Chief Stipe

Sweden as 12m people and already had a high unemployment rate. We have 4.8m people and our unemployed increased by way more than 36,000.

What's your point? Just because Bridges agreed doesn't mean I did. Unlike Labour we don't enforce collective thought.

So if no political system gives us equal luck then what's so great about the one you espouse?

None of this happens. The clubs that race at Awapuni ALL race under the umbrella of RACE Inc. As does Trentham. Effectively all Marton has is its name in lights when their race days are held at Awapuni. RACE Inc has been maintaining solvency by hocking off bits of land. They are in hock to NZRB and NZTR to the tune of $5m as of the 2018 financial report. I can't give you an update on that because the 2019 report doesn't download from their website. If you were looking for an actual example in New Zealand of how the Mesara report would work once implemented then look no further than RACE Inc. It doesn't seem to work very well when you look at their financial statements and factor in the disproportionate benefits they get from NZRB/RITA/NZTR. Note that their Executive pull close to $1m in salary a year. They claimed for 33 employees for Covid-19.

So there is no link between "luck" and "inequality"?

We are ALL financially inequal.

Why were they abandoned?

RACE Inc take everything.

What's your definition of inequality? Brodie has a nice car I don't even have a car. Is that inequality?

I'm trying to get you to define and refine YOUR argument.

If that's the case - what's luck got to do with it?

I'll leave the cliches and quotes to you Holy. Put the question another way - which political system has more luck?

Plain crazy. Not that I agree with much of the rules around Covid-19 but..... Where are the RIU? In Australia they have handed down some hefty fines and suspensions in Thoroughbred racing to those who have not conformed to the Covid-19 racing protocols. Too busy hiding in hedges I guess.

What political system eliminates luck?

Yeah I've wondered about that. No credit card fee online if you buy Lotto. From what the TAB charge they make money on the fee. I'd rather have that little bit extra to bet with and not have their bonus bets.

If you look closely you will see the sunglasses do too! To think there are people out there who think men can't look after children! The following photos are from when I took her to Derby Day at Ellerslie so I upped the glam a bit. Again I bought the entire outfit. I was lucky to have a horse racing that day. We had Owner's tickets and so were up in the members stand and were allowed into the birdcage before our race. I must say I felt awkward if not uneasy. Some of the looks we got in the members stand weren't good. It was like we were out of place and shouldn't have been there.

But what criteria have they used to determine what is "strategically necessary"? The criteria must be flawed when we view which tracks are the first to be raced on after the relaxation of the Covid-19 rules. We've been given an insight into their strategic thinking. For example Ascot Park gets a meeting but not Wingatui nor Riverton. They can't have made that decision based on what is best for the horse, the trainers, the owners or even on-course attendance. Certainly not based on the horse population. From what my investigations have discovered it is solely based on the fact that Ascot Park has the new rolls royce fibre and network connection. Also I guess because it is a tri-code venue. But is that really strategic thinking or dubious operational decisions wagging the strategic tail? For the life of me I can't understand how tri-code venues are good for the industry. Certainly from an on-course viewer perspective they are a dog. Excuse the pun. It is a bit like having a Rugby test match at a cricketing venue like Eden Park. the Cake TIn or the MCG (I've watched Rugby test "on-course" at all three) it isn't the same spectacle as a ground that is a dedicated Rugby/League venue. If I ever attended a Greyhound meeting it wouldn't be at Ascot Park. NO I disagree with that. Many of the clubs designated for closure have built their assets up through support and financial assistance from their local communities. These assets AREN'T the Racing Industry's. In fact most of these clubs have been subsidising the so called "strategic clubs" with inequitable support from the NZRB/RITA for years. I applaud the Westland Racing Club for gifting their assets and cash in the bank back to the community of Hokitika.

There was an inquiry into the race. The RIU breathalysed the winning jockey and his steed. Still waiting on the results.

Note the stable isn't up to Ellerslie standards but it is functional! Oh and you were still allowed to walk down around them then.

But mostly functional and it doesn't seem to worry those who attend. For viewing the races the Hokitika grandstand was one of the best and you didn't have to pay to use it! At least the flies were dead! Exactly even if the beer was dripping with water from the ice in the chilly bin and handed to you by a hairy legged prop forward from the local rugby club who are splitting the profits with the racing club. Or Percy "Pie" Hurrens tin shed at the back of stand where you could get pies made early on the morning of race day. Again spot on. Plus the smaller communities all know someone who knows someone to fix things. Yes RITA want to close it and grab that cash in the bank and sell the assets to fund their largesse. Really? All from ONE race meeting a year? As I've said many times before it was Hokitika where as a kid I was first introduced to racing. Which reminds me of our family's annual trip to Nelson for the trots in January each year. We did that pilgrimage from Hokitika to Nelson for what must have been 15 years in a row. Only stopped when my parents moved there. Well the pilgrimage didn't stop rather the journey was cut down from 320 km to 10 km! I had the pleasure of taking my young daughter to the same meeting a couple of times. A very large group of friends and families from Canterbury used to converge on the Mapua camping ground every summer (20km from the Richmond race track). Two of the families had harness racing connections - one had a son who is a very good harness driver and myself who had relatives that have trained in the Nelson region since harness racing started there. A great holiday where we took over a large corner of the camping ground. A large number of children in the party ranging from babies through to teenagers who fortunately came from big families and didn't mind baby sitting. So one of the regular events was to get everyone glammed up (well just a notch or two up from camping ground standard we weren't fashion in the field types!) and head to the races. Now the Richmond Race track facilities would be viewed by some as rustic but from memory similar to Ruakaka. We didn't care given we were camping. Technically I was operating as a solo dad (some would call it rent-a-kid) and I took great pride in dressing my daughter (never had a doll as a child!). Below is a picture of her touching her first harness racing horse at the Nelson trots. OK it is a miniature version of the real thing but she got to meet children gearing these horses up and wearing silks and to her there was no difference to the real thing. The point is she made a connection with racing. She even helped me pick out bets and I gave her a couple of dollars a race as part of her maths education. I'm convinced that such tutorials have been influential in her being very very good at College. What pisses me off is the lot in charge DON'T understand NZ racing and what made it great. What's more over the years they have pissed away OUR reserves and made us insolvent. Thankfully they didn't get their hands of Westland Racing's $500,000!

No pictures on the website. Now there's a marketing opportunity.

If clubs could raise their own stakes AND get a fair cut of turnover why couldn't they be TAB races?

You've asked me to post what I would have done "as PM". Can you give me a start date for my actions? I'm conscious of not using the benefit of hindsight so I need to make sure I align what I said at the time with the relevant timeline.

Oh Ok you are a hypocrite as well? What does "come from money mean"? Can you explain?

I assure you they weren't TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS - they were fun times! I guess you don't understand what trials and tribulations actually mean. As for being "blue thru and thru" - more apt to call me sky blue - the intensity changes relative to what is required to do the right thing. Aside from being a Left Wing Communist fanatic can you tell us a bit more about yourself?