MEMBER for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has backed Premier Mike Baird’s back-flip over the greyhound racing ban.
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Last week the Premier and Deputy Premier Troy Grant overturned the greyhound racing ban in NSW.
Mr Marshall was a strong advocate of the decision to ban greyhound racing over evidence of animal cruelty within the sport.
But Mr Marshall said the change of heart over the ban should give the industry a chance to reform itself.
“This move will be welcomed by many in the community who felt that the government hadn’t given the industry a chance to reform itself or prove that it could address the significant issued raised in the McHugh Special Commission of Inquiry Report,” he said.
“One thing is for certain, greyhound racing as we know it today will end on July 1 next year. While the racing of greyhounds in the state will continue, it will be a vastly different industry to the one we see now.
“I am pleased that the issues and concerns that led me to support the initial ban – the overbreeding of greyhounds, the inhumane killing of greyhounds and the lack of any real animal welfare regulation, enforcement and accountability – are all front-and-centre of the reforms to the industry.”
Part of the conditions for allowing the industry to continue include an expert panel, led by former Premier Morris Iemma, and including the greyhound industry and the RSPCA, to report back to the government before the end of the year with a governance model and regulations for the industry to follow after July 1 next year.
Mr Marshall said their recommendations will form the basis for new legislation, to be introduced into the Parliament early next year.
“The industry put forward a proposal and a list of guarantees to the government in August, and it is that document that has guided the government’s actions this week,” he said.
“The ball is now in the greyhound industry’s court. They now have the chance they possibly always should have had, to genuinely reform and remove the cancerous elements from their midst. I hope they can.”