Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Melbourne Cup

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (18:34): (1171) My adjournment is about the carnival of cruelty that is the Melbourne Cup, and I am going to be saying nup to the cup. The action I seek is for the Minister for Racing to cancel the 2024 Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup certainly does not stop the nation anymore. Once considered a cornerstone of Australian culture, every year there are fewer and fewer spectators, a clear indicator of rapidly diminishing social licence. This reflects a broader generational and cultural shift, with younger Victorians rejecting gambling-fuelled animal cruelty and seeking other forms of entertainment. Speaking of entertainment, following a social media campaign from the legends at the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, Taylor Swift made a principled decision to say nup to the cup in 2019, withdrawing from her scheduled appearance at Flemington Racecourse.

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses maintains records of deaths and injuries across all forms of racing, and at least 168 horses were killed on Australian racetracks in the last racing year, which is 29 more than the previous year. They also report that Racing Victoria remains the biggest culprit in not reporting the cause of the death of a horse and that Racing Victoria edits racing replays to hide horse injuries and deaths more than any other state racing authority in the country. These facts highlight the inherent cruelty that is built into racing. The noxious two-step between gambling and racing is the only thing perpetuating this cruelty.

Examples from around the world demonstrate the potential for change. Singapore held its final horse race two weeks ago on 5 October. Attendance had been dwindling for decades, from a high of 30,000 to recent race meetings barely attracting 2000 people. While the racing industry is spending big bucks on advertisements aimed at luring back Australia’s trust in the Melbourne Cup and spruiking new spring racing safety measures, we have our eyes and ears open to the reality. Taylor said nup to the cup, I am saying nup to the cup and Labor needs to say nup to the cup.