Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Speaker, I rise today to give the Greens’ wholehearted support for this bill, and I mean that in every sense of that word. It is an historic day. Today kindness is prevailing and this legislation reflects a compassionate community, one that understands that the welfare of dogs is incompatible with the racing industry.
We heard the honourable Mr Winter, the member for Franklin, ask why the Premier made this decision over the last few weeks. He’s asked it multiple times and he’s asked it today in an attempt somehow to smear the decision and what it actually is. The Greens think – if you’ll excuse me, Deputy Speaker – that it’s pretty bloody obvious why we’re here. Of course there is a changed political paradigm and it’s apparently only the former opposition leader who still hasn’t accepted that reality, but the most obvious answer for why we’re here is because it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do by the dogs and it’s the right thing to do by the people of Tasmania, who currently fund this cruel industry through the racing deed and have done to the tune of $75 million since its inception.
The majority of Tasmanians support this ban. That is the truth. That is the fact that the Labor Party, especially the honourable Mr Winter, don’t seem to be able to internalise. There has been a paradigm shift in the views of Tasmanians about greyhound racing and the words of the honourable member for Franklin show he’s really out of touch with the majority of Tasmanians he purports to speak for. I would like him to listen to the truth because it’s important to hear to put some context to what you’re trying to pretend is the truth that most Tasmanians feel.
The largest ever e-petition in this parliament’s history was received in 2022 and tabled by the honourable Cassy O’Connor, then leader of the Greens, on behalf of the 13,500 people who signed it, all asking to end the taxpayer subsidies to the greyhound racing industry because it brutalises gentle animals for profit. I say to all of those thousands of Tasmanians, this bill before us today is one better than that, because poll after poll have shown that support for the greyhound racing industry is in decline. In 2023 EMRS reported only 11 per cent of those polled supported greyhound racing, and a resounding 60 per cent of people opposed it. In August this year following the Premier’s announcement of a ban on greyhound racing, when the EMRS again polled Tasmanians, they found 74 per cent of people polled supported this humane policy decision, this legislation that is before us today. Only 14 per cent of people opposed it.
Labor won’t listen, but I put it on the parliamentary record because it is the real truth about why this legislation is before us today. A total of 75 per cent of Tasmanians reject what Mr Winter calls the Tasmanian way of life. It is not the Tasmanian way of life; people don’t accept that.
Mr Winter – With respect, I didn’t say that, Mr Ellis did.
DEPUTY SPEAKER – Order.
Dr WOODRUFF – I stand corrected; I’m sorry for that. They weren’t Mr Winter’s words, but it is not the Tasmanian way of life, not at all. Tasmanians reject that.
If the polling doesn’t provide enough to sway people’s views on this, here are some other numbers. At the end of the 2023‑24 financial year, a heartbreaking 5 per cent of the dogs that raced on Tasmanian tracks were dead. Of those dogs, 75 per cent of them didn’t make it to four years of age. Half of the dogs that were recorded as deceased were due to injury on the track from trialling or on trainers’ properties. Half of the dogs that were deceased were for those reasons. In that same year, there were more than 300 injuries of greyhounds recorded on the track, and they’re just the ones we know about. There are many more statistics we will never know because those dogs never got a race name, or were injured or died trialling or in training, and that’s just the races. There’s no record and never has been of non-fatal injuries at trialling.
I want to take a moment to reflect on the journey to this place. It was the 2015 Four Corners expose of live baiting and cruelty in the greyhound racing industry that was the catalytic change in community sentiment. It saw the end of greyhound racing in the Australian Capital Territory and briefly before the gambling industry got to the then premier, Mike Baird, it was also banned in New South Wales.
In Tasmania, the Greens initiated the first-ever inquiry into greyhound racing, and I want to note that it was the then Racing minister at the time, Jeremy Rockliff, who supported that, so there is some history and continuity here. That committee meant so much ugly information was able to be put on the parliamentary record and viewed by Tasmanians for the first time. That committee heard evidence of live baiting, the senseless killing of dogs, neglect, mistreatment, brutal cruelty and an industry largely unchecked and operating in wild west conditions. The recommendations from that parliamentary committee were a game-changer. It required that the industry, for the first time ever, had to justify not rehoming a dog. It meant greyhounds could only be killed when they were signed off by the authorities.
Today I’m so proud to deliver this speech on behalf of the Greens. We’ve been with the dogs from day one and none more so than my colleague now in the other place, Ms O’Connor MLC. Whatever you think of our position on the racing industry, I think even the honourable Mr Winter would admit to being somewhat persuaded at times by Cassy’s unstoppable advocacy for the dogs. Today is the reason we haven’t stopped, because we knew and we had the Tasmanians behind us who knew that it was possible to end this cruelty.
Another massive step forward for the parliamentary campaign was with the election of the member for Clark, Ms Johnston. I can’t tell you how heartening it’s been for all dog lovers and the Greens to have another voice in this Chamber fighting alongside us. Kristie, I want to thank you for your defence, speaking truth and speaking for the dogs.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank some of the thousands of greyhound defenders who’ve worked tirelessly over the years to get to where we are today. They say it’s dangerous to name people, but we think we should give it a go.
To Fran, I know you’re listening. You’ve been a shining and ferocious light along the way. Kristie, without your advocacy, the terrible reality of the lives of so many dogs would never have been known or their stories ever told. Rosie, you just kept shaking things up at the Liberal state conferences year after year, thank you for your passion. Thank you for your tenacity. Deb, your strategic brain and determination has been a huge asset to this campaign. To the incredible Andrea Dawkins from the RSPCA, my former colleague. Mark Wild – I will note there’s a token man on the list, a lot of women – and the team at the Dogs’ Homes. Having the RSPCA and the Dogs’ Homes on board has been a huge part of us getting here today.
To Mel and the dog walkers, Dr Megan Alessandrini, and Leanne, Kiara and Joe at Hoomans Helping Hounds – thank you.
Emma Haswell, I want to specifically mention Emma because she has been on the frontline for so, so many years from Brightside in advocacy, of course, but also in rescues. She’s rescued and rehomed greyhounds in their thousands, and when they couldn’t be rehomed because they’d been so brutalised or live‑baited, she gave them a literal couch at Brightside.
I also want to mention – I know it will make her uncomfortable but she needs to be named ‑ Alice Giblin in our office has been a relentless advocate for greyhounds and their lovers for over a decade. Thank you for your work and your tireless advocacy.
To every single one of these people, and the dozens and dozens of others who’ve rallied and rescued and rehomed, all these people are heroes who’ve changed the lives of so many dogs along the way. Individual dogs, of course, but should this legislation pass, they will have done it in perpetuity.
I feel an obligation to not only honour the people who’ve been part of this change, but to speak of the dogs because they are central to this story and the reason that we’re here today. These are some of the dogs whose lives and suffering, when revealed, were central to exposing the everyday brutal reality of the greyhound racing industry.
Tah Bernard died in 2021 at just 18 months of age. He was barely out of puppyhood. Tah Bernard suffered a broken leg during a trial at the Launceston Greyhound Racing Club. At that time no vets were required at trials, so Tah Bernard was taken to the local vet by his infamous trainer Anthony Bullock. Mr Bullock, however, didn’t leave Tah Bernard at the vet and is alleged to have thrown the dog into the trailer yelping. Distressed vet clients and animal advocates raised it with the Greens and it prompted an official investigation. While no breaches of the Animal Welfare Act were found, Tah Bernard’s life, and ultimately his death, drew attention to the lack of vets at trials and any oversight of the industry.
On 10 September 2023, activists arranged to collect a greyhound offered for free by syndicate owners on Gumtree at a public dog wash. That greyhound was Zipping Princess. She was born in 2020 in New South Wales and passed through five trainers in four separate states, rarely remaining with the trainer longer than a few months. When they collected her Zipping Princess’s body condition was poor. Her coat was full of fleas, flea dirt, dried skin, and smelled like sulphur powder, which is a home remedy for fleas. She had a bloodied ear from scratching, and bald patches and old scars were apparent across her body. Her tail had been broken previously. She was lacking in energy and uninterested in food. She was enormously withdrawn and fearful.
Three days after being rescued, Zipping Princess was rushed to the vet for emergency surgery, having become inappetent and lethargic. Surgery revealed that adhesions had rapidly formed after her desexing. The adhesions were strangling her bowel, blood vessels were twisted and tissue was dying. Zipping Princess’ surgery was successful, however, overnight she crashed and was humanely put to sleep the following morning. She was only three years old but had already lived a long life of pain and suffering.
On 28 July 2025, four-year-old Raider’s Guide bumped into another greyhound on the first turn of the race at Launceston, forcing Raider’s Guide to tumble and the race to be abandoned. Raider’s Guide had a Tasmanian record of $664,975 in prize money from 79 starts. According to the steward’s report, Raider’s Guide was taken to a veterinary clinic, and a post‑race examination revealed it had suffered cervical spinal injuries, leading to it being euthanised.
These are just a very few dogs stories. They are some of the ones that we’ve raised in this place before. These are the ones that we know about. While we don’t have names for many dogs, it’s thanks to their human defenders that we do have images of the conditions they were kept in. I want to thank Animal Liberation Tasmania for the incredible report A Few Bad Apples. It was a significant body of work of the findings of the greyhound racing industry and cruelties perpetrated against greyhounds between 1 August 2023 and 31 July 2024. This is some of the unpaid voluntary work that has been done by people in the community who deeply care about these greyhounds, and who are the reason that we’re here today because they brought forth the evidence of the conditions that dogs have lived in.
I remember when I was first personally confronted with the evidence of the everyday cruelty of this industry. I sat in an Estimates committee with photos of the property of the infamous trainer Anthony Bullock, and the dogs that he held there at the property. They were photos of sad and lonely dogs lying in cement cells, sticking their noses out of cages, and desperately trying to get human contact from the people who were feeding them horse carcasses and white bread in bowls. It was food not fit for a dog. I will be honest and say it brought me to tears. It was confronting to see the normalised reality of dogs that most of us in this Chamber have an experience of spending an evening on the couch with, not of seeing them lying on a concrete floor in the middle of winter.
Those stories painted an accurate picture of the industry, unfortunately. It’s why we’re here, and their untimely deaths and often painful lives have not been for nothing when we look at where we are today.
Today we have a chance to put things right and it is important that it happens today. Mr Winter has talked about rushing this through, but let’s be real, this industry has been on notice for years. Everything I’ve said is true and is the reason we’re here today. We want to make sure that this bill will protect the welfare of animals in the transition process. We want to hear about how rehoming organisations will be supported and how adoptions of these beautiful dogs will be promoted.
Of course, we want to know how financial assistance will be rolled out to industry participants. This is work that can happen through the already established Legislative Council committee, which, Mr Winter, is already going through the bill with witnesses and the government. That process has commenced. Work is underway. There is a cross‑parliamentary party and members committee established in the Legislative Council with that work to oversee the transition. The industry did have time to be part of this transition and they chose not to. They made a political decision to not engage until now, and that was a calculated political decision to not engage with the process from the point at which it was announced. There were notices around racetracks telling participants not to engage with the Racing Integrity Commissioner or the process.
The legislation must commence on 1 January, and the Racing Integrity Commissioner, Sean Carroll, himself implored MPs to get that done this year in GBE scrutiny hearings last week. He said he couldn’t start the work of transitioning the industry or protecting the dogs and working out what compensation goes to participants until this legislation passes, and he needs to start on 1 January next year.
Part 4 of the bill before us describes the things that will occur from 1 January 2026 or be able to start from 1 January 2026. It will enable the Racing Integrity Commissioner, Sean Carroll, to enter and inspect premises for the purposes of conducting an audit or an investigation during the transition period. It will allow him and the rest of the commission to develop and implement a greyhound racing closure plan to guide the phase‑out of greyhound racing in Tasmania during the transition period. That is obviously something that’s important to get started with immediately.
It will empower him to make sure that any transfer of greyhounds to a new owner will require the notification and consent of Tasracing. It will mean that a registered greyhound that has reached the age of six years, or that has not raced for a 12‑month period, will be deemed to be retired and deregistered. It will allow exceptions for greyhounds that have not raced for 12 months due to injury and are certified to be recovered by a veterinary surgeon. It will prevent the racing of an overseas or interstate-registered greyhound in Tasmania during the transition period unless it has the written consent of Tasracing. It will require that the destruction of a greyhound, other than by a vet in an emergency, can only be for animal welfare reasons and can only be done with the written consent of Tasracing.
It will also prohibit the breeding of racing greyhounds during the transition period. The honourable Mr Winter questioned why we were starting to clamp down to prevent the breeding of greyhounds next year, saying it will be an early wrap‑up. The fact is that dogs get raced for three years, four years, five years, up to six years and we have to stop that. We can’t be continuing with the pipeline of dogs to go to racing when greyhound racing will formally end in 2029. We have to stop somewhere, and the time to stop is 1 January next year.
Deputy Speaker, ultimately the vote on this bill is about whether you do or don’t support ending greyhound racing. The honourable Mr Winter doesn’t seem like he’s going to change his mind over the summer break, but you never know. Look at the totality of the evidence and you might change your mind. It doesn’t sound like the industry wants to stop receiving handouts and continuing with business as usual, which is a cruel business of breeding more and more dogs into a life of suffering. Labor seems to be happy to backtrack on most things, but for some unknown reason, they’re not prepared to backtrack on this matter.
From the very first day, the Greens have fully supported banning greyhound racing, protecting these gentle dogs from what has been industrial‑scale cruelty. We hope that this is the first domino to fall in this brutal industry and that there are Greens in other parliaments who get to be part of such a ban in their states as well. We hope the compassion that’s on display in this parliament is contagious. The legislation will undoubtedly save the lives of thousands of dogs. The Greens are immensely proud to be supporting what we hope will be a nation-leading ban on greyhound racing.
