In a move that has shocked many in the local racing industry, Tasmania’s Premier Peter Gutwein has closed all three racing codes for the next four weeks.
According to racing.com, the new COVID-19 measures have been introduced with immediate effect.
Commenting on the ramifications of the decision, Gutwein said, “Many industry participants will be eligible for federal and state support because they are businesses. And Tas Racing will in coming days announce measures to further assist industry participants in terms of ensuring there are strong measures in place in terms of the welfare of animals,” Gutwein said.
“While race and trial meetings will be cancelled for at least the next four weeks, those industry participants who are responsible for the welfare of racing animals will be able to continue their important work this will include veterinarians, farriers, those who feed the racing animals, and those that keep them in working order and fit and healthy.”
Gutwein justified the radical move, saying, “Race meetings draw people from all over the state many of those, many of them live in regional or rural Tasmania. What we don’t want to do is to increase the risk to those regional and rural communities, nor to increase the risk of a group of people, albeit they have worked through this responsibly to this point, coming together in one location as they have for race meetings.”
Tasracing said it will work closely with the Minister for Racing on the detail of a support package for the Tasmanian racing industry following Thursday’s announcement. Chief executive Paul Eriksson said these details would be announced as soon as they were finalised.
Ed – Tasmania, an isolated island state off Australia’s south coast, is known for its vast, rugged wilderness areas, largely protected within parks and reserves.
