‘There’s real risk’: Reforms to racing industry threaten regional communities

CEO of Racing Victoria Aaron Morrison says he recognises the reforms are targeted at vulnerable people like gamblers and minors but must make sure there are “no unintended consequences” to racing.

“I should be clear we absolutely support harm minimisation measures, particularly around vulnerable people and minors. We understand the target of the reforms is around those types of people,” Mr Morrison told News24 host Steve Price.

“We want to make sure there are no unintended consequences for the racing industry, one of Australia’s greatest industries.

“We employ over 100,000 full-time equivalent roles and most of those are in regional areas … there’s hundreds of thousands of people dependent on racing and communities that are dependent on racing.

“There’s real risk for real people, real jobs, real livelihoods and real communities at stake here if we get this wrong.”