Greyhound Ban Not Overturned Unless the Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 is repealed
The National Party just let slip that the greyhound racing ban won't be repealed until the first session of Parliament in 2017.
No certainty will be provided for the industry until the Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 is repealed, and this can be easily done in the two remaining sitting weeks before the November 12 Orange by-election.
Shooters Fishers and Farmers MLC Robert Borsak called on the National Party to show their sincerity in repealing the greyhound racing ban in Question Time today, demanding they release their timeline for winding it back.
He also called for the immediate repeal of the legislation that effected the greyhound industry ban – Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 - while other aspects were being finalised.
"The greyhound racing industry needs certainty, not a Government who is afraid to make a decision without the smokescreen of a committee," Mr Borsak said.
"Even while the finer details are being worked-out, the least the National Party can do is repeal the Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 in the next two Parliamentary sitting weeks before the Orange by-election.
"National Party Leader Duncan Gay avoided answering my question directly and said that the ban won't be repealed until the first session of Parliament in 2017.
"We know that the Government thinks that this issue will die within two days of Mike Baird and Troy Grant's press conference yesterday, but rural communities are too smart for that. They need the certainty that can only be provided by repealing the legislation that effected the ban in the first place could provide.
"Anything short of this, and releasing the timeline for the repeal, is just evidence of policy being made on the back of an envelope because of pressure from our by-election candidate Philip Donato," said Mr Borsak.
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Philip Donato said that the people he was speaking to while doorknocking were saying that the greyhound ban was part of a broader set of issues where the Nationals had failed to stand up to the Liberal Party.
"The greyhound industry ban is by no means the only issue that matters in this by-election, but people here have had enough of The Nationals forgetting the people who elected them," he said.
Mr Borsak's Question Time contribution directed at National Party Leader Duncan Gay, representing Deputy Premier Troy Grant, was as follows:
"Will the Deputy Premier [Troy Grant] immediately release the timeline for repealing the Greyhound Racing Prohibition Bill 2016 and the greyhound racing industry ban, given that there are only two more sitting weeks before the Orange by-election?"
Download Robert Borsak's press release here.
