The Special Commission of Inquiry into greyhound racing has begun to report on what will be a thorough inquisition of how the sport is run in NSW.
On the surface, the recent exposure of internal e-mails from the former CEO of GRNSW, Brent Hogan, raised questions on the seriousness and depth of the Inquiry. This e-mail from Brent Hogan was of particular concern:
“Appoint a panel headed by a prominent QC … a technical expert (f*** knows who this is but must be independent of us, like a head of a vet school or some dog whisperer with a PhD), and a probity/process advisor … Will give Government comfort.”
“Gives us time to make appointments on Monday (even if all we can say is that the taskforce/commission of review/etc. will be headed up by Big Shot QC.””.
However, the Minister for Racing didn’t seem to accept this scheme was the best course of events. Instead, he swiftly stood down the CEO, altered the terms of reference and increased the investigative powers of the Commissioner, hardly decisions that protect those that were in charge of managing the sport.
GRNSW was a case study in poor management
Instead, the release of these e-mails paint a picture of how greyhound racing was managed in NSW for so long, and that picture is more like one your child brings home from pre-school rather than a Da Vinci. Directionless with a complete lack of attention to detail.
One e-mail, from a strategist states that “we always knew this day would come” begs the obvious rhetorical question of ‘why the hell weren’t you do something about it?’
But unfortunately, the highest levels of management of GRNSW had almost become a parody of themselves by this stage, combining many of the worst excesses that modern management in Australia has to offer.
The sort of management that was dividing people in the sport rather than uniting them. The sort of management where debate was discouraged and dissent was not tolerated. The sort of management that never reflected on where the sport really was and where it was going, instead perpetually claiming to take a new direction without ever outlining what that direction was, or what was wrong with the one they left behind.
The most striking feature of GRNSW was the enormity of their collective glass jaw. Any minor jab and it would shatter in a million pieces. We’re not talking about ill-informed criticism from a few blokes at the pub, but rather from some of the most respected professionals in the sport.
Probably the best example of this was their treatment of a highly respected veterinarian, Dr Ted Humphries. Dr Humphries has a long association with greyhound racing, and was a former board member and 15 years ago a key whistleblower in the ICAC investigations that exposed corruption from within the ranks of the stewards.
GRNSW disbanded the veterinary advisory board, a key structure that enabled veterinarians to provide some independent oversight of the sport. The idea that racing regulates vets, rather than the other way around, has always struck me as rather counter-intuitive.
Further, they had abandoned the drug testing procedures of both random swabbing and at the stewards’ discretion in favour of the latter. This was despite random swabbing being a key element in preventing corruption, as no-one could predict when they were going to get tested.
When Dr Humphries criticised GRNSW in the papers and on TV, the response was swift, and on 28th November 2013 warned off Dr Humphries, officially for not assisting GRNSW in their inquiries. GRNSW were so unwilling to confront reality, shooting the messenger had become the only option, rather than addressing the substance of their critics.
There really is only one option for greyhound racing in NSW to take. It’s to be honest with the risks involved in the sport and how to mitigate them. It’s to be honest with how much it is going to cost to implement changes and who is going to pay.
But it’s also to be honest about how the future management of the sport is to be conducted in the best interests of all concerned, and this requires the Commission to properly investigate and report on the past management practices of GRNSW.
Equally, the Commission must also be aware that the words of management at the top of greyhound racing ought not to be taken as gospel.
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