This is one of those rare occasions when I get to stand up and say, ‘I told you so.’ When this bill was introduced last year we gave it every bit of support we could but made very clear at the time that we thought the legislation was flawed. We actually made that point during the briefing and also during the debate. It is no surprise to us that this amendment bill has been brought back. What does make me a little concerned is that I think this will probably not be the end of it. As I said the last time I spoke, we are very concerned about the state of racing in this state, and we know that we cannot stand in the way of what is an important piece of legislation.
I still harp on and go back to the fact that I wish the New South Wales government, which introduced the legislation in haste that this bill seeks to make sure we address, had consulted with the other states and could have done it in a decent and meaningful way rather than putting up what I still think is flawed legislation. With those few words, we will support the government in its endeavours and hope we have speedy passage of this bill, but probably it will not be the last of it.