January turnover:stakes data

[Chief Stipe]

17 minutes ago, hesi said:

So all this extra money from Entain, the clubs do not even get the opportunity to use any of it on infrastructure

12 minutes ago, curious said:

Exactly. NZTR in their wisdom have applied almost all of it to stakes. Some of that in advance thanks to a deal with TABNZ to that effect and all despite the Messara recommendation for infrastructure spend during the 6 years while they were closing tracks.

Why should NZTR be responsible for funding Club infrastructure especially when there isn't enough revenue to go around?  

[curious]

On 3/02/2026 at 1:38 PM, Chief Stipe said:

I don't believe it is hindsight more head in the sand and Clubs running as Clubs not businesses.  

Dead right about the head in the sand approach. That's what NZTR have being using for the last 2 decades whilst as a recent CEO told me, keeping on looking for the next pot of gold. They've tried the tax-payer, a corporate rescue, overseas product, pokies and now aiming at the online casino business. I'm afraid however, they may be coming to the end of a rainbow that has no pot of gold.

Clubs were run as businesses for a century living on their own earnings. As with all industries a few ran into financial difficulties from time to time, but few actually went out of business because of that.

[Chief Stipe]

9 hours ago, curious said:

Dead right about the head in the sand approach. That's what NZTR have being using for the last 2 decades whilst as a recent CEO told me, keeping on looking for the next pot of gold. They've tried the tax-payer, a corporate rescue, overseas product, pokies and now aiming at the online casino business. I'm afraid however, they may be coming to the end of a rainbow that has no pot of gold.

The WHOLE industry has had their collective heads in the sand.  From Clubs to Head Office.
 

9 hours ago, curious said:

Clubs were run as businesses for a century living on their own earnings. As with all industries a few ran into financial difficulties from time to time, but few actually went out of business because of that.

From what I've seen looking back as far as I can at the financial accounts of Clubs and looking at the structure of Clubs very few if any ran as businesses.  They relied on donations, bequethments, volunteers, cake stalls, raffles and not paying tax.  That isn't a sustainable business model especially when you are not earning enough from your business activities to build up capital to maintain your core assets.

BTW what's wrong with running pokies and online casinos to fund racetracks and stakes?  Are those products just a differentiation of the core product - gambling?
 

Do you think Clubs shouldn't run camping grounds and holiday parks on their properties to gain extra revenue?  That approach is keeping Tauherenikau afloat. 

Southland has stayed afloat by providing a 3 code venue.  The other 2 codes are subsidising Thoroughbreds but who cares if it keeps the place afloat.

Why have a multi-million dollar asset that sits idle for 2 or 3 days a year?  In that respect for a Racetrack to earn enough from Thoroughbreds it needs to be a training centre and have at least 10 meetings a year.  So in that respect which courses go?
 

[Murray Fish]

46 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

So in that respect which courses go?

If it was based (on so called rational economics...) Avondale's $$$ is appealing!  But I presume doing that will create a massive shit storm!

[Murray Fish]

10 hours ago, curious said:

keeping on looking for the next pot of gold

reading this, it suggest that getting this generation doesn't and isn't going to have as much disposable income and as other previous generations! 

Double the average unemployment and $26,000 in debt. The triple-whammy crushing a generation’s wealth

How high inflation numbers affect us

VIDEO CREDIT: THREENEWS

The labour statistics released this week painted a stark picture of how tough the economy has been for many New Zealanders.

A total of 165,000 New Zealanders are currently unemployed, contributing to the highest unemployment rate recorded by Stats NZ in a decade (5.4%).

Those overall statistics are stark, but the devil is always in the details when it comes to this type of data.

The numbers showed that the unemployment rate for workers under 30 is 12.5, more than double the overall figure. That information is already concerning enough, but it can’t be viewed in isolation.

IRD data shows a staggering 622,892 New Zealanders currently have a student loan, with the average burden sitting at $26,075. It takes a New Zealand-based worker approximately five years to clear that debt.

 

 

Student loan debt has risen 37% since 2013, when the average loan was $19,076.

As the cost of living and education increases, so too does the debt burden young people are carrying. This isn’t just about the current impact on young New Zealand workers, but what this could mean in the coming decades.

We’re looking at a situation here where young New Zealanders have fewer work opportunities in an era of enormous technological change and greater debt as they start their lives, raising serious questions about the challenges they face in building wealth.

In some ways, we’re asking them to play a tennis match every generation has played, but forcing them to start a set down against a robot that’s been shaped in the image of Roger Federer.

The compound effect

Mark Smith, a senior economist at ASB, says that while the prolonged recession has been tough on every generation, but we’ve seen younger generations more acutely affected.

“The economy is currently 30,000 jobs shy of what it was in late 2023, and a sizeable chunk of at least three quarters of those job losses would be for those aged under 30,” he says.

“It’s almost a forgotten generation out there.”

ASB senior economist Mark Smith says young people have been hit hard.

It’s easy to brush this aside and offer the stoic reminder that it’s always been tough (it has) and that they have time to bounce back (they do), but this overlooks the broader impact this will have on these people and the economy in the years to come.

The longer it takes these workers to get real-world experience, the longer it takes them to become productive contributors to the economy. It’s often said that it takes a new employee around six to 12 months to reach full productivity, and it might even take longer for a worker learning the ropes for the first time.

“The lack of opportunity will have the impact of potentially lowering the speed limit of the New Zealand economy because you have a cohort of people who’ve been out of the labour market and not had the chance to come through and pick up new skills.”

In economic terms, this is called labour market scarring, and the impact stretches well beyond just one generation. It’s something every New Zealander should be concerned about.

A shrinking education premium

The trade-off with an expensive university education was that it gave you access to opportunities and career progression that wouldn’t have been possible without the years spent in tertiary education.

Shamubeel Eaqub, the chief economist at Simplicity, tells me the rule still applies, but not in the way it once did.

 

 

“The premium of having a degree is not as high as it used to be,” Eaqub says.

“The wedge between somebody with a level 3 qualification and somebody with a bachelor’s degree is getting smaller over time, but the cost of the qualification is increasing,” he says.

This issue is only accentuated when you add in the complexity of technology, making it more difficult for young people to get into the workplace in the first place.

“Imagine the classic big law firm, where they have a few partners at the top and many young interns and young lawyers at the bottom in a pyramid model,” says Eaqub.

“But with the advent of technology, we're likely to see far fewer young people at the bottom, so it becomes more cylindrical rather than pyramid."

You’ll essentially have more people competing for a smaller number of jobs, which means many will face major delays in getting into the workforce.

“That start in life is important. You learn something about how to work, how to be at work, and make choices about what kind of career you want. Fewer people will have those opportunities early on in their life.”

 

Yes, they will eventually catch up, but the lost time means student debt lingers, savings stall, earning potential doesn’t increase and the buying a family home gets kicked further down the road.

“The earlier those losses are, the bigger the cumulative deficits are,” says Equab, explaining that because wealth compounds over time, a late start can drag down an entire portfolio over a life time.

So where does this leave young workers?

Tim Fairbrother, a certified financial planner at Rival Wealth, has written an excellent column for Stuff explaining that a young a young person doesn’t need a finance degree or six-figure salary to start building solid foundations.

His recommendation is for young people to develop good habits as early as possible to ensure they can better navigate their way through a world where wealth is built quite differently from what it was in earlier generations.

At a time when work opportunities are less stable, Fairbrother says young people should be getting into the habit of building an emergency fund as early as they can. Good budgeting habits are tools you can carry with you through life.

While the wait for a job can be painful, the idea is not to splurge when you do start to earn a salary. Contribute to KiwiSaver, save what you can and look to get on top of your debt as soon as you can.

 

 

Fairbrother also encourages young people to gain an understanding of compound growth as early as possible.

“If a 19-year-old saves $20 per week until age 65, with an 8% annual growth rate (compounded weekly), they will have saved $47,840. Yet with compounding interest, they will end up with approximately $452,011.73 by age 65.”

But this all remains so contingent on the ability of young people to enter the work force in the first place.

No silver bullet

There is no simple solution to these issues. As the nature of work changes in the face of rapid technological development, competition for those first rungs on the career ladder will only become more fierce.

The good news is that the tough times over the last 18 months are showing signs of easing. Growth is returning to the employment market and we are seeing a lift in job listings around the country.

But economies are cyclical and there will be more tough times ahead, which will again hit our younger generations.

This issue isn’t about older generations against younger generations. It’s a debate about productivity (how fast we get there) and the ability of New Zealanders to build wealth over the course of their working lives.

As artificial intelligence really beds into society and further disrupts the employment market, we will need some bold, long-term thinking about how to ensure we keep our work force still has a clear path to prosperity.

Relying on the advice of Elon Musk that we shouldn’t bother saving for retirement probably isn’t going to cut it.

- Stuff

[curious]

54 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Why have a multi-million dollar asset that sits idle for 2 or 3 days a year?  In that respect for a Racetrack to earn enough from Thoroughbreds it needs to be a training centre and have at least 10 meetings a year.  So in that respect which courses go?

Other than Cambridge, is there a track in New Zealand where the training operation isn't subsided?

[Chief Stipe]

9 minutes ago, Murray Fish said:

reading this, it suggest that getting this generation doesn't and isn't going to have as much disposable income and as other previous generations! 

Come one @Murray Fish !  It is the same old Stuff leftie hit piece rolled out for election year.  The usual suspects quoted.  The two "economists" employed not for their skills but for their wokeness!  Euqab is always banging on about these things.

Euqab used to work for the Goldman Sachs and then the ANZ in NZ.  The latter just posted a record $2.53b profit in NZ alone!!

He now works for Simplicity - Here to make our members wealthier. Nonprofit, low fees and ethically invested. By Kiwis, for Kiwis.  Which means they don't invest in oil and gas but their funds are heavily invested in AI (which needs lots of oil and gas!).

The figures used in the article are the classic manipulation of data to convey a doom and gloom picture.  Which is why NZTR shouldn't do surveys!!

[Chief Stipe]

14 minutes ago, curious said:

Other than Cambridge, is there a track in New Zealand where the training operation isn't subsided?

Subsided?  I assume you mean subsidised.  

What do you mean by "subsidised" in this instance.  Or are you taking the cost accountant approach and have determined that a Training Centre is a cost centre, the Race Day is a cost centre etc etc?

[curious]

14 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Subsided?  I assume you mean subsidised.  

What do you mean by "subsidised" in this instance.  Or are you taking the cost accountant approach and have determined that a Training Centre is a cost centre, the Race Day is a cost centre etc etc?

lol... Feudian slip?

I'm primarily relying on club accounting.

[curious]

Anyway, I'm no accountant but a training operation is not a cost centre is it since it directly generates revenue?

[Chief Stipe]

13 minutes ago, curious said:

Anyway, I'm no accountant but a training operation is not a cost centre is it since it directly generates revenue?

Correct but it may generate revenue but run at a loss or a proft.  Not to be confused with a Cost Accountant though or Cost Accounting.  The average Cost Accountant will say get rid of the Training Centre because it doesn't make a profit.  The Management Accountant will say don't get rid of the Training Centre because it contributes to other activities which helps the overall profitability of the business.