A gloomy picture for ACT racing was painted yesterday by the ACT Racing Club unless the ACT TAB links with another major TAB.
The chair of the club, Bill Bartley, told the Vitab inquiry that the greater proportion of prizemoney, administration and capital costs of ACT racing came from the ACTTAB dividend. If the dividend were jeopardised, ACT racing would lose money which would have significnt flow-on effects for employment and the tourism industry.
Racing was the third-largest employer in Australia, he said. About 60 per cent of horses raced in the ACT came from outside Canberra, attracted by the prizemoney. This was a significant contribution to the visitor industry.
The Victorian TAB has given notice it will cut the ACT’s access to the pool of punters’ funds from Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania from August 1 after the ACT entered a contract with the Vanuatu-based Vitab, giving Vitab access to the superpool through ACTTAB computers.
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