Racehorse TALK

Here you go Pab...sorry Ted

4 March 2009
Horan declares his policy – sack QRL board

The Liberal National Party (LNP) shadow minister of racing, Mike Horan, member for Toowoomba South, has learnt little since entering politics 20 years ago stated Queensland Racing Limited (QRL) chairman Mr Bob Bentley.

“The old tricks of the 1980s, of making policy on the run, then dribbling it out through the media is not on,” said Mr Bentley.

“You simply can not treat industry stakeholders in this way. It smacks of the 1980’s vernacular ‘feed them like chooks’.

“The LNP, through Horan’s piecemeal policy, advertised in dribs and drabs in the Courier Mail on March 3, 2009, states the LNP wants to change what is recognised as the leading governance model in Australia for racing administration. The model has been tested and proved to be successful. The change, mooted by Horan, but yet to be unveiled, is supposed to be modern and independent. It will be jobs for the boys and nothing more. There is no more independent model in operation than the current QRL model. Obviously the current model does not suit Horan, as it allows the industry to operate independently of Government and to speak out when the Government or opposition political parties are attempting to use the industry for ‘pork barrelling’ or political purposes to create unrest or political gain.

“I caution Mr Horan that when he steps into the ‘Tardis’ to go back in time, he needs to be careful that he doesn’t come across too many ‘Darleks, screeching ‘exterminate’, otherwise he will need to call on the ‘Doctor’ for help.

“The justification for removing the current QRL board has been the old political catch cry used by politicians, and is currently being run by Horan ‘that the industry supports what I am doing’, a strange statement indeed when 99% of the industry has not seen the policy.

“There has been no consultation with any person with a contemporary knowledge of the racing industry. No consultation with the board of QRL, no consultation with the Australian Racing Board, no consultation with the breeders, no consultation with the owners or trainers, just the 'good old boys’. This surely is shades of the TV series ‘Yes Minister’.

“The sad thing about this, is that this is exactly what the hard working people in the industry will get from Horan. There is 30,000 people that derive an income from the racing industry and some how he has missed all of them. I can only think he has borrowed Harry Potter’s ‘invisibility cloak’.

“It is debatable if Horan even understands the basics, so how can he possibly make a sweeping statement that ‘the new policy will be modern’ and ‘take the industry forward’. This is stuff for the ‘Tardis’.

“It would be extremely doubtful if the leader of the opposition, Laurence Springborg, was across the nonsense that Horan is proposing or the narrow minded, insular, agendas of the 'yes men' giving Horan his policy ideas.

“The election has not even been contested, and here we have Horan with breakneck speed galloping the industry towards the cliff with needless, untested, and ill-conceived changes in difficult times, all for dubious personal reasons.

“I will ask the same question again and one that many stakeholders are asking, ‘why does racing need to be political football?’

“If the Government wishes to politicise the racing industry as Horan is attempting, then the Government should fund it appropriately and in so doing would be entitled to make industry decisions that suit political agendas of the day. The Government is a taker of $45 million annually from taxes, they are not givers, and there is no rational reason why the industry should have to suffer the intended Horan meddling in the control body structure.

“This question has to be answered, ‘what benefit will the industry derive from Horan making changes?’. Currently, there is no justification. The problem seems to be that QRL will not be compliant and tell Horan what he wants to hear.

“The recent reference in the Courier Mail that the board of QRL and its chairman have, ‘bitterly divided the Queensland racing industry’, is nothing more than a beat up. There must be nothing else to print. The only divisive actions of late are those of Horan himself. His irrational actions and statements are designed to cause friction within the industry.

“Action by Horan, and ‘Tardis’ co-traveller Bill Carter, to pursue Bill Ludwig over a trivial matter, cost the industry a considerable amount that could have gone to towards industry benefits. Bill Ludwig was completely exonerated and this received a small mention in the Courier Mail, unlike the sensational reports that appeared during the investigation. Forgive me for speculating, but if the industry is forced to deal with Horan, rest assured there will be an office next to his with a plaque with the words engraved, ‘ex-judge’.

“The Horan inspired undermining and attempt to destroy the reputations of the chairman and some committee members of the Toowoomba Turf Club over the $10 million development at Clifford Park turned into a political media circus and set back urgent capital works notwithstanding that the majority of the Toowoomba committee are LNP members and the chairman, Neville Stewart, is a past vice-president of the Liberal Party.

“This does not display commitment to the joint party platform of LNP or Liberal Party unity.

“Horan's unprovoked attack in Parliament on QRL was personal and for no substantive reasons. The outburst did nothing to demonstrate that the board of QRL was not independent or any criticism of performance or governance. Incidentally, the issue of independence and conflict of interest was settled firstly in 2002 and again in 2003 by senior independent QC’s and, in addition, Crown Law, and then the Daubney Rafter inquiry also was forced to confront the issue.

“Surely Horan and Bill Carter are not still nurturing these monumental defeats and are bogged in the quicksand of time, and harbouring revenge. Surely not!

“The problem seems simple to the informed, that there are no ‘good old boys’ on the current board of QRL who will bend to political wants and do Horan’s bidding. The board of QRL is independent and complies with the Racing Act, has compliant policies and all board members have been subject to extensive probity checks.

“The board of QRL will work with whatever party wins the election on March 21, 2009, and the same relationship will apply to whoever has the racing portfolio. The industry needs a good relationship with the Government, on a fair and responsible platform. There is no need for conflict, or the need for uninformed interlopers making and influencing the progress of the industry.”

Ends.

  funny as the calls this stakeholder is recieving already...dont ring bob folks his phone is off other stakeholders tell me....themammy he links your crew in as well ...how embarrasing! re-roar re-roar there coming to get you bob
as obi-the ear said a few months ago they will have to drag the despised despot pariah out kickin n screaming from his deagon palace will he be yelling for the doctor and saying ive been exterminated....funny shit! pity about our industry...before you go bob turn the lights outs and name corbould benthead park ...why not?

cmon maxie tell us your thoughts....wolston park for bob?instead of a commital hearing he might be commited but not to stakeholders on the ground just his yes men mates

bob soon to say to the spin doctors and anna's electorate office -beam me up scotty!   
its bye bye beattie/bligh bentley/ludwig fraser/schwarten/rose..........role on march 21

What is a "taridis", Teddy?

Ted, I wouldn't want to be the cat at your joint election night if this goes the other way !

Obviously not a Dr Who fan

Translation:

Bob thinks he is doing a good job and reckons there is no division in the industry over his governance. 

Mike thinks Bob is doing a shit job and that there is division in the industry over his governance. 

Andrew has no ideaand does not care.

At least that takes the tardis out of it and shortens it a bit as well.
Anyone want a used tardis?  Do they sell on eBay?

It was from the Dr Who televison series. I attached a definition below. Could not get into the Dr Who and did not watch it much. The Daleks were the enemies in a robot like vein who used to go around yelling "exterminate".

The TARDIS[1][2]  [ˈtɑː(r)dɪs] (help·info) (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space)[3] is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who.

A product of Time Lord technology, a properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in time and space. The interior of a TARDIS is much larger than its exterior, which can blend in with its surroundings through the ship's chameleon circuit. In the series, the Doctor pilots an unreliable, stolen, obsolete Type 40 TARDIS, once referred to as a TT Capsule, whose chameleon circuit is faulty, leaving it locked in the shape of a 1950s-style London police box after a visit to London in 1963.[4] It was stolen from Gallifrey where it was an old decommissioned derelict, and the unpredictability of the TARDIS's short range guidance — that is, relative to the size of the entire Universe — has often been a plot point in the Doctor's travels.

Although "TARDIS" is a type of craft, rather than a specific one, the Doctor's TARDIS is usually referred to as "the" TARDIS or, in some of the earlier serials, just as "the ship" or "the capsule". (In the two 1960s Dalek films, the craft was referred to as Tardis, without the definite article.)

Doctor Who has become so much a part of British popular culture that not only has the shape of the police box become more immediately associated with the TARDIS than with its real-world inspiration, the word "TARDIS" has been used to describe anything that seems bigger on the inside than on the outside.[5] The name TARDIS is a registered trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation.[

we can't move back to the dark ages of the liberals or the nationals or the current hybrid version of the fruit loops running the state.  For 11 years they have not even provided an effective opposition.  I no fan of Anna either but to have these crazed antiquated conservatives in control would be a disaster for the entire state.

well freddy the swing is on and it will big as people are fed up with the lies,increasing taxes which fraser says may/will go up again...lnp say no new taxes...75 billion debt and only state to lose its credit rating?
and you want more of the same?
time to wake and smell the roses
major issues will decide this election and bob's future after yesterdays kooky kooky press release about him and his motley crew being de-nessa-scary
elections aside any comment on his dribbling sci-fi press release...wonder how mr spock and the enterprise didnt get a mention?
bob and his crummy ircus are heading for the goo-e goo-e geyser in dora speak
maybe his next press release/dribilous bile will mention the "muppets" in honour of me

Any more of this is de-necessary, Ted. Or do you have any new stuff to " frontload "