Racing Act.

[Freda]

Passed, done and dusted.

[curious]

Yes. Last week!

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, Freda said:

Passed, done and dusted.

I hope you are not referring to the future of racing?

[Ludwig]

4 hours ago, Freda said:

Passed, done and dusted.

Any bets on who will be the first victim of the "we want your assets and we're going to take them approach"?

[curious]

1 hour ago, Ludwig said:

Any bets on who will be the first victim of the "we want your assets and we're going to take them approach"?

NZTR?

[Noodlum]

If I was one of the unwanted classified as such I'd sit on my hands and wait.  I'd mothball the track - even get the volunteers onboard and revitalise it.  Plow and then plant soil conditioning crops.  Resow with the latest grasses that will give a good racing surface.

Then wait.  Deprive the leeches of any capital.

When Cambridge Jockey Club starts looking for more money (when trainers and owners have left because it is too expensive to train there) to repair and maintain their new $16m All Weather Track tell them to contact a commercial bank.

When Awapuni and Riccarton come knocking to raise the funds to complete their new track tell them to contact a commercial bank with their business case.

When it goes tits up then I'd open the doors with open arms and say welcome back.  I'd undercut the training costs for trainers.

[Mikie]

1 hour ago, Ludwig said:

Any bets on who will be the first victim of the "we want your assets and we're going to take them approach"?

Avondale is @ $1.03

Mikie

[Noodlum]

1 hour ago, Mikie said:

Avondale is @ $1.03

Mikie

Might be the first go by NZTR but geez I'll back Avondale on that one.  They have the resources to screw NZTR over.  

 

[Dark Beau]

Sadly Avondale are now screwed, subject to a law change. 
They have been given an olive branch in the new dates calendar. 
Basically (and sadly) they either work something out with Ellerslie or wither up and die with nothing left whatsoever. 
It’s impossible to beat the law of the land in my humble opinion. 
Changing the law would be a small chance, but they (Avondale) will run out of money before that happens. 
I don’t think any future government will be interested in that (law change) or the betterment of racing for a very long time. 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Dark Beau

[Chief Stipe]

9 hours ago, Dark Beau said:

Sadly Avondale are now screwed, subject to a law change. 
They have been given an olive branch in the new dates calendar. 
Basically (and sadly) they either work something out with Ellerslie or wither up and die with nothing left whatsoever. 
It’s impossible to beat the law of the land in my humble opinion. 
Changing the law would be a small chance, but they (Avondale) will run out of money before that happens. 
I don’t think any future government will be interested in that (law change) or the betterment of racing for a very long time. 

I disagree the new part of the Act which enables land grabbing looks like a poorly written piece of legislation.  Its intent and the methods to achieve it makes the old Public Works Act look lame by comparison.  I hope that it is tested in Court not only for the interests of racing but also from a national perspective.

With regard to testing it in Court I'm sure Avondale will get some QC willing to challenge it pro bono.  I doubt NZTR will have the same offers.

[Joe Bloggs]

There must be no self esteem in that RITA place, even the cartel must be nervous and that's saying something.

[curious]

9 hours ago, Dark Beau said:

Sadly Avondale are now screwed, subject to a law change. 
They have been given an olive branch in the new dates calendar. 
Basically (and sadly) they either work something out with Ellerslie or wither up and die with nothing left whatsoever. 
It’s impossible to beat the law of the land in my humble opinion. 
Changing the law would be a small chance, but they (Avondale) will run out of money before that happens. 
I don’t think any future government will be interested in that (law change) or the betterment of racing for a very long time. 

How are they screwed and why would they need or want to do what you suggest?

[Dark Beau]

6 hours ago, curious said:

How are they screwed and why would they need or want to do what you suggest?

The law. 
Chief Stipe suggest a way they mightn’t be. 
With your extreme knowledge you tell me why they are not. 

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Dark Beau said:

The law. 
Chief Stipe suggest a way they mightn’t be. 
With your extreme knowledge you tell me why they are not. 

I'll have a go at explaining my interpretation of this aspect of the new act tomorrow.  But just quickly my brief look at it the Act specifies are process that must be followed regarding the physical assets of a racing club that NZTR determines are surplus to the industry's needs e.g. NZTR say no race dates at your track we don't need aka Westland Racing Club at Hokitika.  Note Westland dealt to their assets well before the Act came into being.  Anyhoo - so NZTR and the Club then decide what is going to happen to the Club and its assets. 

If NZTR said look you can still have race days as a Club but you can't race at Hokitika you must race at Kumara as the Westland Racing Club.  What's more if you agree to do that and you dispose of your assets they need to be transferred to Kumara.  If you decide not to race and convert your track assets to cash then we want you to transfer that cash to Kumara (or Riccarton to help fund the AWT).  Now NZTR and Westland need to agree with this.  If they don't then another part of the legal process starts. 

To cut to the chase basically if agreement isn't reached then NZTR (or Racing New Zealand?) has not choice but to go to the Minister of Racing with its recommendation and the Minister will decide.  That's when it becomes political!  Remember the Alamo! I mean Kumara!  The Minister has the power to take over the assets and transfer them to where he see's fit.  I imagine if a resourced Club really wanted to dig in their toes and the Minister's decision went against them they would initiate all sorts of injunctions and legal proceedings and test the law in court.  My personal opinion is that a Minister having the power to essentially grab an entity's assets and hand them over to someone else is wrong.  

However before it gets to that point there are other legal issues to traverse.  For example take Motukarara - at least two clubs race there - one gallops and one harness.  A separate company owns the assets which the racing clubs hold shares in.  I'm not sure (yet) how that plays out legally.  Another example - take Pukekura Raceway and the Taranaki Racing Club.  They own sweet FA as the ground and facilities is owned by the Council and rented by the Club.  So NZTR isn't going to get their hands on those assets.  But that's a moot point anyway because Taranaki is one of the Chosen One's.  However I'm sure there are other clubs that have complicated variations of these two examples. 

Anyway that is a brief brain dump and don't shoot me down YET or take this interpretation as an accurate one.  As I said I've only had a cursory look at the sections in the new Act regarding "Surplus Assets."  The Subpart 2 - Transfer of Assets and Surplus Venues and Subpart 3 - Dissolution of Racing Clubs no longer Racing has 13 sections and a plethora of clauses.  Subpart 2 ends up with the Minister and Order in Council.  Subpart 3 decisions are made by the code body (NZTR/Racing New Zealand) and can be appealed to the High Court.  On the face of it NZTR can decide a Club has no race dates and then after 2 years commence dissolution of that Club.  Hell if I was a Club I'd mount a legal challenge the moment NZTR took my race dates away.

I'll apply my rudimentary bush lawyer skills to the task tomorrow.

[All The Aces]

Taranaki have their own battle on their hands

https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/121974278/community-opinion-sought-on-new-plymouth-raceways-future?fbclid=IwAR1VN4lh8TyDReiDGnzM05swHswMomOvXPfLdD-c8GJwM092k8pniXkKOZU