Speaker 1: So the big news of the day is the decision
Speaker 1: by the members of the ATC to vote against the
Speaker 1: deal to sell off Rose Hill Garden's racecourse. This would
Speaker 1: have seen the state government spend five billion dollars over
Speaker 1: the course of about ten years to redevelop the land
Speaker 1: for twenty five thousand homes. The vote has been unsuccessful,
Speaker 1: so fifty six percent voted no, forty four percent voted yes,
Speaker 1: and there were more people at the meeting that had
Speaker 1: been expected. The Chairman of the ATC as Peter mcgorran,
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us, Peter at pleasure.
Speaker 2: Clinton.
Speaker 1: Are you disappointed this afternoon?
Speaker 2: Yes, of course, I believe it was the best thing
Speaker 2: for the club, for racing and for the community.
Speaker 1: That being the case, and you were looking to generate
Speaker 1: five billion dollars. Is the future the financial future Racing
Speaker 1: New South Wales now in jeopardy because you won't have
Speaker 1: that five billion dollars cash injection.
Speaker 2: Certainly the ATC is I can't speak for Racing New
Speaker 2: South Wales. That's Peter for Landyes, so.
Speaker 1: Just interrupt that the ATC is in financial jeopardy.
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, We'll always viable, Clinton, But we've only
Speaker 2: ever got our nose above water, and oh no, we
Speaker 2: run a great club, as anyone who's attended Randwig or
Speaker 2: rose Hill would know, but we're never going to be
Speaker 2: able to upgrade our facilities what members and public enjoy
Speaker 2: at the moment. We've been doing that in twenty years.
Speaker 2: We have no funding which requires hundreds of millions of
Speaker 2: dollars given we own four racetracks three training centers to upgrade.
Speaker 2: So that's the challenge that what is already quickly becoming
Speaker 2: a niche sport will become an even smaller sport because
Speaker 2: we don't offer a modern value offering to members or
Speaker 2: general public. We've lost twenty five percent of our membership
Speaker 2: since twenty nineteen and rose Hill has lost a half
Speaker 2: of its attendances over ten years.
Speaker 1: That's a fairly dire prospect then. So that being the case,
Speaker 1: is this completely off the agenda or is there another
Speaker 1: way you could revisit the plan to sell rose Hill?
Speaker 2: No, it's off the agenda. It was an all or
Speaker 2: nothing offer. Because the two drills digging the Metro begin
Speaker 2: to hit at rose Hill Gardens in the next few weeks,
Speaker 2: So the opportunity for a Metro to construct a metro
Speaker 2: station is lost. You can't put in a metro station
Speaker 2: once the line is completed.
Speaker 1: But the government still could develop twenty fast thousand homes
Speaker 1: without a metro in the future. It's not good, but
Speaker 1: they could do it.
Speaker 2: It would have to acquire the land and Chris Smins
Speaker 2: and I believe and will never do that. He said
Speaker 2: it privately and publicly so long as he's Premier. There
Speaker 2: will not be a compulsory acquisition, okay.
Speaker 1: To show up the finances of the ATC and the
Speaker 1: strength of racing going forward in New South Wales? Could
Speaker 1: you sell off other assets? Could you sell off Wick Farm?
Speaker 2: For instance? No? What Warwick Farm? Because it's one of
Speaker 2: our training centers with some eight hundred and fifty horses.
Speaker 2: We couldn't do that. Canterbury Canterbury is a possibility, but
Speaker 2: planning is complex there that it's not a sympathetic or
Speaker 2: involved counsel to put it mildly and the return whilst
Speaker 2: a few hundred million dollars not to be sneezed at,
Speaker 2: would be welcome, that's basically a band aid. We needed
Speaker 2: significant funding to completely reinvigorate and revitalize all of our
Speaker 2: major assets.
Speaker 1: But if you need that Peter and this has been
Speaker 1: knocked over and selling off Canterbury's is to bandaid. What
Speaker 1: are you going to do to reinvigorate racing.
Speaker 2: Well Canterbury is a possibility and through the process Clinton,
Speaker 2: a lot of members who are opposed to the sale
Speaker 2: of rose Hill are not opposed to the sale of Canterbury.
Speaker 2: But that could be a long process. Council have a
Speaker 2: very different concept for that area. They want lower buildings,
Speaker 2: they want more open space. You're not going to gain
Speaker 2: what you really need, but sure, if you're really desperate.
Speaker 1: You could look at it. You could look at it now,
Speaker 1: you could look at it. I spoke with Gay Waterhouse
Speaker 1: and obviously she's been an opponent of this campaign for
Speaker 1: some time. She says, you should resign. Will you stay
Speaker 1: in your position?
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm not going to resign for a couple of reasons. First,
Speaker 2: I would have been in breach of my fiduciary responsibilities
Speaker 2: if I had not brought this proposal to members. It
Speaker 2: wasn't for me to say, oh, I've decided it's rose
Speaker 2: Hills too sentimental, it's of too much value to the
Speaker 2: racing participants. I'm not even going to put this proposal
Speaker 2: all seven directors voted when they were first told about
Speaker 2: this in December twenty twenty three to put a proposal
Speaker 2: to members. Now recently four of the seven directors supported
Speaker 2: the actual proposal that was voted and the resolution by members.
Speaker 2: So I'm a servant of the board. The board might
Speaker 2: replace me, but I'm not going to stand aside.
Speaker 1: So those proposals for free membership for the lifetime members,
Speaker 1: free membership for five years, the thousand dollars behind the
Speaker 1: bar and at restaurants and food out let's per you
Speaker 1: for five years all off the table.
Speaker 2: Now, yep, it's off the table. And the renovation of
Speaker 2: the members' facilities at Randwick and Warwick Farm are off
Speaker 2: the table. The upgrade of the stables at Warwick Farm
Speaker 2: and Randwick are off the table. Look, I can't hide
Speaker 2: my disappointment. Clinton. This was a chance once in a
Speaker 2: lifetime because of a metro station that will now evaporate,
Speaker 2: to revolutionize in a way every other race club in
Speaker 2: the world would give their right arm to be able
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: I know you're the public face. This is the chairman
Speaker 1: of the ATC, but as you know, the leader of
Speaker 1: the Racing New South Wales organization Peter Velandis is very effective.
Speaker 1: He usually wins in the end. Do you think there's
Speaker 1: a way that mister and he was very supportive of
Speaker 1: this proposal. Do you think there is a way that
Speaker 1: mister Landi's can get his way through another means.
Speaker 2: No, he accepts the members vote as I do. There's
Speaker 2: no legal way to do it because remember the ATC
Speaker 2: is governed by the Registered Clubs Act and that requires
Speaker 2: a vote of members for the dispersal of land. So
Speaker 2: it's the status quo and all the challenges that brings.
Speaker 1: That is going to bring challenges for sure. Thank you
Speaker 1: for your time, Peter, Thanks Clinton, Peter mcgorr who's the
Speaker 1: chairman of the ATC. So there we have it. It's over.
Speaker 1: We are now told it's over. Chris Minn says there'll
Speaker 1: be no compulsory acquisition of rose Hill Gardens, so there'll
Speaker 1: be no twenty five thousand homes at rose Hill