Greyhound Racing SA encourages industry secrecy by telling participants not to speak with media
(Facebook: Greyhound Racing SA)
Greyhound Racing South Australia has encouraged secrecy within the state’s dog racing industry by instructing dog trainers and racing participants to avoid speaking with journalists in an official communication it sent out earlier this year.
Greyhound Racing SA is responsible for oversight of all aspects of the dog racing industry in South Australia, including racing animal welfare, trainer misconduct and gambling operations for profit.
The racing regulator gave the directive in its industry participant-only private Facebook group in late March, posting instructions that specifically targeted this publication and journalist.
The post, which was consequently shared outside of the private industry group, publicly ascribed motivations to this publication and targeted my work as an independent journalist.
Greyhound Racing SA then permitted industry participants to make negative comments within the group and for them to remain online.
The post was made on behalf of Greyhound Racing SA by the racing regulator’s marketing manager, Matt Watson, and implied the regulator was concerned about public “scrutiny”, despite the regulator having publicly claimed over years that South Australia’s dog racing industry has no issues to hide.
Watson has previously stated via email that he acts as a spokesperson for the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Corby, and Chairman, Grantley Stevens, who are the only two people at Greyhound Racing South Australia authorised to make public comment.
“Please note we have a journalist who is currently doing the rounds to trainers, sponsors and government trying to bring greyhound racing into public dispute,” Watson wrote. “If she or any journalists/media contact you, please publicly refuse comment and ask them to contact GRSA Marketing Manager Matt Watson for any official comment. Please note we are under even more scrutiny with racing continuing at present. Appreciate your support”.
Dog racing has been permitted to continue in South Australia throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As the SA Government signed emergency measures into law to combat the pandemic, they ensured provisions were made within the emergency laws to allow horse and dog racing to continue.
A second representative of Greyhound Racing SA, listed only as “Mark GRSA”, added a comment in response to the post that further targeted me as a journalist, writing: “This particular journalist’s name is Matilda Duncan, who has contacted people via various methods, as well as visiting a race track previously. Please note that other journalists and the like will also be actively watching our racing in regards to social distancing and any other issue they can use to their advantage. Thanks all.”
“Matilda Duncan is an independent journalist that has her own website that basically bags out racing,” Tamica Dunn, a greyhound trainer based near Mannum, wrote in response.
The directive from Greyhound Racing SA’s management came one month after Corby encouraged industry participants to provide materials to an ex-dog trainer, Tony Welfare, “for a future book on SA greyhound racing.”
“I hope that anyone who is approached by Tony will invest confidence in the process involved,” Corby wrote.
Trainers and participants have been permitted to speak with journalists previously for articles that have been uncritical of the dog racing industry. Many of the articles from South Australia’s largest media outlet, the Murdoch-owned The Advertiser, have promoted dog racing and its connected gambling practices with little scrutiny of racing industry practices.
Corby was the author of a damning memo from 2016 that was leaked during the course of the McHugh Commission into greyhound racing in New South Wales, in which he bluntly stated that greyhound racing in Australia was “responsible for the unnecessary deaths of between 13,000 and 17,000 healthy greyhounds each year” and that “the culture of the industry is defined by animal deaths being acceptable and necessary and where profit comes before welfare”.
Corby remains responsible for the welfare of racing dogs in South Australia.
Greyhound Racing South Australia was contacted for comment, but refused to clarify whether participants of dog racing are prohibited from speaking with journalists.