Flaws starting to appear in the ASBA Panel recommendations?

Hi all. Certainly been some interesting banter going on about the Panels Report, and it has galvanised opinion on it.

I went to Menangle yesterday and did not find one person whom supported the move. From administrators to owners to media people to trainers to drivers to the chip lady. Even small time breeders thought it was narrow minded and unfair. Seems like there could be some decent opposition brewing domestically as well as NZ.

I think there are some inherent flaws in the Import Fee proposal. Many have been outlined on here already but maybe its time to address some other ones. Already some breeders on here have expressed reservations about the NBCS, so maybe after some time it is starting to sink in the whole thing.

There appear to be several contradictions in what the Report is trying to achieve.

The Panel have made it clear that they are concerned with prizemoney being shipped back to New Zealand and deaprting our industry to the benefit of the Kiwis. One argument put forward is that by imposing the $5000 import fee, you are hitting up the Kiwi owners whom are sending their horses over here to race and retaining ownership in them.

This must be at loggerheads with what Menangle is trying to achieve. Produce the best racing with the best horses creating greater interest and therefore greater benefit to the industry. People will bet more on the good horses and good races. The import fee impost on top of freight anyway will see costs escalate to above $10k even before the horse is landed, and will definitely stop horses coming over. Even the better ones. Therefore this will mean the fields aren't as good as they could be, and as a result there will be missed opportunities in betting turnover.

No big deal most will say, but it is still an impost that will have a negative impact on domestic racing. This is before even considering locals buying NZ horses and the impact it has.

The next oddity and contradiction about the Report is that with its vehement opposition to losing funds abroad, they are actually making themselves look a bit foolish by only imposing a $250 fee on horses here for 90 days or less, vs $5000 for permanent arrivals.

I ask people which horses are going to benefit the Australian industry more?

The Long term arrivals or the short term arrivals?

Lets look at both.

Long Term Arrivals: I will split them up into Australian owned vs NZ owned. Long term arrivals are proposed to wear a $5000 import fee.

Australian Owned:
Come over here to race. Generate training / driving / ancillary fees like Vets, farriers and so forth. The massive majority will race out their careers in Australia, filling race fields and being a 4 legged product that will have plenty of turnover bet on it over the course of its career here in Australia. Engage the interest of owners and their friends and colleagues. Could have significant spin off effects with racetrack attendance / betting turnover / general racecourse and surrounds expendiutre (food, drink, bookings etc). Fairly likely to entice owners to reinvest if return is sufficient. Plenty of money spinning around the domestic horse economy created from the imported racing beast.
Prizemoney could be reinvested in NZ or domestically. If it is reinvested either here or abroad, it will be another animal to get that cyle of horse economy going again.

New Zealand owned:
Basically all of the above except the horse racing economy generated by interested conections. Investments likely to be placed on NZ tote so benefit will on face value be lesser than if Australian owned. Prizemoney goes lock, stock and barrel back to NZ in most cases to be reinvested in their industry there.

Short Term Arrivals: Are slugged $250 if in the country for 90 days or less.

Basically 99% of short term arrivals are going to be Kiwi horses. They will generally be of high calibre so they could be good turnover horses and will mostly be going for the top races.

Herein lies the massive contradiction: If the panel - and others - are so worried about the money leaving the country, this group here are the ones most likely to do the hit and run missions and take the loot back to NZ with what appears to be little benefit to the domestic industry.....but on the back of a paltry $250 compared to the $5000 for horses whom will actually benefit the industry more over the long term (barring one or two superstars from NZ but those superstars will have the strong correlation of taking a lot of money with them).

Lets have a look at last years Breeders Crown meeting.

Kiwis took home a WHOPPING AUD$418,400. That is whopping. Most were heere on brief hit and run missions and close to half a million dollars left the country that day, bound across the Tasman to the Shaky Isles.

Yet under the proposed fee impostion, those horses that actually race in Australia long term to the benefit of the local industry are copping a far bigger whack as a result.

The contradiction lies in that the hit and run mission horses are the most likely to win the big bucks they chase. They wont always do this, but given that they make the journey should suggest they must clearly be above average and will more than likely perform and return over the other ones that might come to Australia.

In fact the Kiwi horses brought to Australia run the risk of not returning as much to their owners than the gun hit and run types, yet are the ones whom are copping it most thru the fee.

I would have thought that if the panel genuinely were concerned with money flowing out of the country, then they might hit the short termers a fair bit harder than 5% of the permanent fee. They are contradicting themselves in their reasoning for application of the import fee to permanent arrivals, yet far lesser fee for short termers.

If they are fair dinkum about stemming the flow out of Australia then they for some reason have gone very soft on the big guns that come over short term.

The fallacy of the whole funding proposal indicates how ridiculous it is. Above highlights another reason why it should be turfed out because it is penalising Aussie owners chasing average money to the benefit of the Kiwi owners chasing the big money (average racing against the big meetings the Kiwis do hit and runs on).