GAMING AMENDMENT BILL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4621, 5 November 1923, Page 4

GAMING AMENDMENT BILL

MR POLAND’S SPEECH. In speaking to the Gaining Amendment Bill, which was before Parliament last session, Mr H. Poland, member for Ohinemuri, says:— “ I want to refer to some of the remarks made by the honourable member for Rotorua in regard to the report of that Racing Commission of’ 1920. He devoted a good deal of his speech to lavish praise of that commission, but I have never been able to see eye tp eye with those who think as the honourable member for Rotorua thinks, and as he has expressed himself to-night. I read the report at the time —read it carefully. I.t was a well-written report, prepared by men who understood how to put a report together ; but the recommendations of the Commission did not agree with the expressions given utterance to by members in their preliminary remarks, and this House showed, Sir —I think iti was in 1921 — that it did not agree with the conclusions arrived at by that Commission. The Commission started off by saying that they had agreed unanimpuslv that ‘lt was highly undesirable to increase materially the volume of totaiisator betting by any means whatever.’ I, take it from that that if they considered it ,w ! as highly undesirable to increase the betting, then it was desirable to decrease it; but. their further remarks do not bear out that assumption. Then they said, ‘ The present number of racing days arc not excessive,” and they also said, ‘There are anomalies' and injustices in distribution which are clamouring for redress.’ Tha,t was quite true ; but in that connection r would point out that this Bill doesnot in any way give effect to that portion of the report. If there are anomalies and injustices clamouring for redress, there is nothing in this Bill to improve the position, an(i I agree with the remarks of the last speaker that if any increase of permits is to be given, that increase should go to those districts that have in recent years had a great access to their population and have no permits at present, and after that to those districts of considerable Importance, like Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, Rotorua, and the Bay of Plenty, where they have a one-day meeting, and where, -being in an isolated position, it is difficult for them to carry on with financial success on a oneday totalisator permit. This Commission of 1920 said that the outlying districts, especially the isolated ones, ishould get special, consideration. How have they given effect to that ? There is no increase proposed for Tauranga, which is a specially isolated district; no permit for Te Puke, Paengarpa, or Whakatane —all isolated districts; but they do recommend that Pukekohe should have two days, a place within twenty-five miles of El’erslie, where there are twelve davs’ racing at the" present time—at Pukekohe, which is only five miles farrher from Ellerslie than Wellington is from Trentham.

Mr Isitt—What is the population ? Mr Poland: The population does not come into the question at all in this case. If you have a population of two or three thousand and they have a course like Ellerslie —the best in Australasia—within twenty-five miles of them, what does this Commission mean by recommending that these people should have two days’ racing there, and that before they are granted a permit they should spend £8,009 to £lO,OOO in preparing the ground and erecting the necessary buildings to carry on their racing? Pukekohe at the present time has a dozen trains running to Ellerslie every day, and there is no difficulty in going there in the morning and getting back the same evening—an hour’s journey—and yet the Commission recommends that a place like that should have two days, and a place like Tauranga, which has never made a success of it,s one day’s racing because of its isolation, is to have no more at present, notwithstanding that- it is recommended that isolated districts should have consideration. That ?s only one feature ofi the inconsistency of the report. Under (h) In their report they say: 'With regard to what are called the metropolitan clubs, it •should be recognised that the larger of these clubs are, in a /sense, national institutions, catering according to high standards not only for the population in their, immediate vicinity, but for the racing community nt large, and should not be interfered with unless for grave reasons.’ “ I ask, why should they not be interfered with?' If. they are not carrying on the sport in a proper way, why should they get special considerations ? No special considerations; should be given to any clubs —metropolitan, or suburban, or country. If they are not carrying on the sport in' a proper way, with every fair regard given to the public, who are supporting their meetings, then the Racing Conference should come upon' them with a firm hand. The Ccmmission goes on to recommend that suburban dubs should be practically wiped put, and they tell us that the Auckland Trotting Club should be the only Trotting Club in Auckland, and that the Otahuhu Trotting Club should be done away with, as also the Avondale Club. That, sir, is all done for the specific purpose of concentrating the whole of the metropolitan racing in he hands of one club —such clubs as Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. Let me say at once that I have not a word to say against these clubs. I have been treated on the Wellington course with the greatest kindness and courtesy;—with every conslideration; in fact, I have not received better treatment anywhere in f New Zealand. But it ts absurd to say that the big clubs should be regarded as saered Institutions. The Commission h as not very much to say against the country dubs, but I have felt bound to express my disapproval with portion, of the Commission’s report. < The only commission I know of that gave satisfaction was that of 1914, which consisted of Sir G. Hunter and Mr Davey, both members ofi this House at that time. They knew what to do and; they did it, and brought;

in a report that gave satisfaction to this House- The last Commission has cost a lot of money, and its report is of little value, This Bill recommends an increase of some thirty-odd day.,. I intended to say at the- start) of my sneech that I am not opposed to racing, and I am in favour of reasonable facilities being given to. the people of this country. But I dp agree with those members who have protested against the action of the Prime Minister and the Government in bringing this Bill before the House this session. This has been a rush session. Every member of Parliament and every Minister of the Crown have been endeavouring as far as they reasonably can with due regard to their responsibilities to their constituents, to get through legislation that >s absolutely essential before next Monday, so that the Prime Minister could leave to attend the Imperial Conference, and I say it is not treating the House fairly for the Prime Minister to bring down in the dying hours of the session legislation of this nature, when the Minister of Labour has throughout the whole session told the House that it is quite impossible for him to bring in any legislation to improve the position of the widows of this country who are struggling and starving in their endeavour to rear their orphan children. He has said it is impossible to bring in any legislation to improve the position of the old age pensioners, or the position of these miners who are buffering from miner’s phthisis and who are struggling with the aid of friends to eke out an existence. The Government have noti time to do anything for these people or to deal with other matters far more important to the country than this racing legislation , but, they ask us to put in the whois of this night discussing a Bill which in their hearts, I believe, a .great many of them know will not get on the statute-book, and a Bill which ! say is not urgently needed and which could very well stand over till next session. Yet we are here discussing it to-night in this haphazard way without anything to guide us. The Minister in charge of the Bill made a speech which was only equalled for brevity by that of the leader of tjie Opposition. They both said they were in favour of the Bill, but the Ministei gave no reason for bringing in the Bill. He has not given the House one argument in favour of the increase of th'.’ty-one permits. He has not told us why only twelve permits should be given to racing clubs and nineteen to trotting clubs. The Bill is not carrying out t,he report of the Commission by doing that, and yet we are a,sked to-night to vote for or against the Bill. This is a new Parliament,, and a large number of the members who are here to-night were not in the House in 1921, and it| is due to those members that the arguments in favour of an increase in the permits and the urgency for the parsing of this measure should be placed before them. I know that a large number of the one-day, clubs have not made a success of their financial undertakings. In the Auckland Province they

are pooling their meetings and hold, them on metropolitan courses. By that means they raise a certain amount of extra revenue ; but I contend that those one-day clubs are quite able to carry on successfully if they run their meetings not with the idea of giving the largest possible amount in stakes, but simply with the idea of catering for the requirements of the district they serve. In the case of a district with a couple of thousand people it cannot be expected that that district could give' in stakes what would be given by a suburban club like Avondale, which is close io the Auckland district, apd yet the desire to do so is what has crippled most of the pne-day clubs. In isolated district like Tauranga is quite different, and cannot carry on with a oneday meeting; Taiimarunui also is in a similar position. But these are quite exceptional cases. Sir, the honourable member for Auckland Central dea.lt with the question of a minimum weight to be awarded by a handicapper, which means that If the handicapper Axes a horse to carry 6st. 71b. the owner of the horse has to get a Jockey who can ride that weight. Mr Isitt.—At 6st 71b. or 6st. 41b. ? Mr Poland—The minimum is 6st. 71b. Mr Isitt—Then he has to be down to 6st 41b. Mr Poland*—it means that, the boy ha= to be between 6st. 4>lb. and 6st, 71b. For years the Otago Jockey .Club had a minimum weight of 7 stone, and for years they have brought before the Racing Conference the desirability of having that minimum made general. The Ohlnemuri Racing Club has for years had that minimum weight, and any other club can have thr.t minimum if it likes to adopt it, I agree with the honourable member that the 7st. minimum should be made compulsory upon all clubs. The honourable member for Christchurch North referred to his experience in connection with t.his matter. • There is no doubt that we should consider the lives of these boys who are following jockeying as a profession. It is not a profession that I would like any boy to take up, but as long as you have horse-racing you will have jockeys. A compulsory minimum weight should be fixed alt} 7 stone, and that would mean that the boys would not require to weigh less than 6st. 10lb. Then, these boys are not paid a fair fee for the work they do and risk they run. The boys have t,o ride for fees of £1 8s and £1 12s, and perhaps a boy does not get two mounts in a day; but even If he gets two mounts he does not earn more than £3 4s, and he has to pay all his expenses. These matters should be improved by the Racing Conference. If there are thirty horses in a race only one can win ; and, though higher fees are paid fior first, second, and third, most of the riders have to accept £1 8s or £1 12s at country meetings. If the Racing Conference will not deal with these matters, satisfactorily, Parliament should step in and compel them to introduce reforms. Then there Is the question of the publication of dividends. I do not know why this is not provided for in this Bill. If a man makes a bet with a

bookmaker he wants to know the dividend, and such dividends should be puldished in the newspapers. If a man gets a friend to invest his pound on the totalisator he slhould be able to find out what the dividend is. The restriction on the publication ofi dividends is not in operation in any other country in the world. When a New Zealand horse wins a race in Australia, the dividend is published in every paper. Another thing that is done in Australia, and might very well be done here,,,is the payment of a third dividend when there are a certain number of horses in a race. When there are more than nine competitors tlyit done. Then, provision for receiving telegrams on the racecourse is a very reasonable anl simple thing. Another amendment; that should be made relates to the 10s totalizator tickets. In the case of the Auckland Racing Club you have to pay 12s ,6d to get inside the grandstand enclosure ; but when you get in you cannot put 10s on the machine without coming outside the. enclosure and going round to the outside totalisator. If a man does that he has to pay 12,s 6d to return. Why should a person be debarred from putting 10s on a horse if he wishes to do so ? The Wellington Racing Club and the Canterbury Club make that provision, and why should it not be done in Auckland and elsewhere ? With regard to the transport of horses, it is an injustice that the present charges should be made. The Ohinemuri Jockey Club run a special train to their meeting every year. For that train they pay £133 3,s 4d. For that sum the Railway Department will run u train from Auckland to Paeroa, and return the same evening. If there is any surplus in fares the Department does not pay it to the club, but there is a deficit the club has to make it tip . But if the club want to get. a special horse train to take the horses from Paeroa to Auckland they have to pay £144. Last March the club engaged a special horse train, so that the horses competing might get back to Ellerslie , seeing that it was a Saturday and there was a race meeting at Avondale on the following Wednesday. .They knew they would lose £BO by doing so, but they agreed to do it. As soon as they had paid the money to the Department the Stationmaster was rung up and asked to tell the secretary of the club that the train would not, shunt any horses between Paeroa and Otahuhu. When the club learned that, ofi course they cancelled the arrangement. The Department would not shunt horses at Morrinsville or Frankton. ; they said that all the horses that were put on the train must go on to Otahuhu. That) was a case where the Railway Department must have been making a considerable amount of money; yet that was how the club, who were trying to help the horseowners and the Department, were treated. Many of the clubs sleem to fall into a misapprehension with regard to racing taxation. The 2% per

cent, that has been taken out of the totalizator revenue from the gross amount put through the machine has been taken for , the last .twenty years, I suppose, and has never been increased ; so no club to-day is injured with regard to that any more than ic was injured twenty years ago. I think; however, this should be graduated to help small clubs. The 5 per cent, taken from the dividend comes, out of the pocket of the lucky man .who gets' the dividend. But the percentage out of the stakes certainly does hurt the club, especially the small ones, and it is a very unfair tax. The proper way to deal with income tax is to tax the income derived from racing by rhe big horse owners—men like Sir George Clifford and the Williams Brothers, who are making their £B,OOO and £lO,OOO : they ought to be taxed on their income. At present they pay no income tax on racing.incomes, and that is being perpetuated by this Bill. That is to say, 90 per cent, of the stakes -won by the horse-owner never pays income tax, but the other ten per cent, of the .stakes 'won. by the “ battlers ” who travel about the country districts and win prizes of £lOO or £l5O does pay tax. That i&. not a Tight thing. We propose to reduce the stakes tax from 40 per cent, to 5 per cent., but it is still unjust. Thon the other taxation reduced is the amusement tax on the Is entrance money; .and certainly there is a bit of duplication of taxation there. Outside the amusement tax there are no taxes that the club have to pay in addition to what they have always paid? Their main trouble ’’s that they arc trying to give top much money in stakes. When they get to the proper position of giving stakes according to thoir means I dp not beileve they will have any great difficulty in carrying on successfully.”