The Australian Trainers Association (ATA) President Colin Alderson, has strongly condemned the failure of RVL to provide stakeholders with immediate full disclosure of all information relating to the legal and financial advice which formed the basis of their decision to charge corporate bookmakers a gross revenue based product fee.
“We asked RVL for a full and urgent briefing immediately after the Federal Court decision last Thursday and they have failed to do so,” Alderson said.
“This is unacceptable from the governing body. Unless RVL can demonstrate otherwise, the Victorian racing industry, and in particular our members, stand to be worse off from what appears to be a substantial funding disadvantage to their counterparts in NSW.
“We now find that RVL is going to commission an independent inquiry to determine which product fee will benefit the industry. This should have been done in the first place, and again is totally unsatisfactory.
“The basis on which the Product Fee is charged is the most crucial decision affecting the funding of the racing industry. The failure of RVL to provide a full briefing on its decision is staggering and suggests that RVL has not done its homework nor had any form of contingency plan.
“The unanimous decision of the Federal Court to allow for the charging of a turnover based product fee leaves the Victorian racing industry with no choice. RVL must immediately demonstrate that the Victorian racing industry will be no worse off under their product fee model. Failure to provide compelling facts will leave them with no choice but to apply the turnover based product fee on corporate bookmakers.
“It is the ATA view that this issue needs to be resolved immediately and decisively. RVL must provide stakeholders with answers immediately, otherwise it casts serious doubts on their judgments on this critical issue. Now, more than ever, is the time that RVL needs to show some real leadership”.
