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The BulletinJune 6, 2024

Time ticking for decision on greyhound racing ban

The Bulletin editor
greyhounds racing at night
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As Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this extract from The Bulletin, the final call rests with Winston Peters.

An impending decision

Two weeks ago, Newshub’s tireless investigations reporter Michael Morrah obtained a government briefing paper suggesting a call would soon be made on the future of greyhound racing in New Zealand. It was reported that racing minister Winston Peters would decide the future of the industry “within weeks”. While that decision hasn’t yet been made – at least publicly – it must certainly be due soon. And with renewed calls in recent days to outlaw racing, following more deaths on the racetrack, this morning we’re going to look at how we got here, and where we might end up.

On ‘thin ice’

In his May 19 report, Morrah said it was “no secret that greyhound racing is on thin ice”. He’s right, though the debate over the industry is nothing new. In 2017, a major report uncovered the high number of dogs being injured or killed on race tracks. It showed more than 2,000 dogs had been injured, and 165 put down, directly due to racing over the previous three seasons. In the same year, another Newshub report revealed a top greyhound trainer was being investigated for allegedly using live baits – as in, live animals – to train his racing dogs, something that’s illegal. By 2021, the former government had launched a review into greyhound racing, the third in a decade. “It is the responsibility of the industry to hold itself accountable and ensure the best possible standards of welfare for greyhounds,” said the former racing minister Grant Robertson. The report from that review found three issues that needed to be addressed, one of which was “animal welfare generally”. The industry was put on notice and given until the end of 2022 to up its game. But while a subsequent report by the Racing Integrity Board was critical of the greyhound racing industry in its current form, the last government never made any decisions before the election.

The arguments for a ban

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It’s perhaps unnecessary to even canvas these given the stories referenced above. Nevertheless, animal activists have been vocal about the need to protect greyhounds from the harms of the industry. “Injuries and deaths keep piling up, no matter the track,” said a spokesperson for charity Safe in late March after a spate of deaths and injuries prompted a five-week race suspension at Manukau Stadium. “The government must recognise the urgency of this issue and intervene decisively.” This week, the charity told Newshub’s AM there had been “over 2,500 injuries, including 272 broken bones and now 26 deaths” in the years since the industry was put on notice. In May, the SPCA published an open letter urging government action and cited a poll commissioned by the charity that showed 74% of New Zealanders favoured a ban.

The industry has, in response, defended its social license to operate. Greyhound Racing NZ said in a statement last month there were no grounds for a ban. “The sport has made significant progress in recent years, especially in the animal welfare space. GRNZ is committed to ongoing improvement, and will continue to put significant time and resources into ensuring that animal welfare is at the heart of everything the industry does.”

What might happen

It’s hard to say for sure. While failing to do anything in government, Labour has since joined the Greens in calling for a complete ban. On the campaign trail, Christopher Luxon promised to ban greyhound racing, reported The Press, spooking industry reps that may have been banking that a change of government would stop any crackdown. The prime minister has since reaffirmed that position, as The Post’s Thomas Manch reported in March. But the decision doesn’t squarely lie with him, as Manch’s report noted, because the current racing minister is Winston Peters. Back in 2019, during his last stint as racing minister, Peters pledged to “clean the industry up” after the live baiting scandal. Jump forward to now, and as we wait for his final call, Peters has remained coy on whether he will endorse the view of the prime minister. “Well, [Luxon’s] got a minister now who knows more about it than he does, and I’m on the case, alright?“ Peters told reporters in March.

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The BulletinJune 5, 2024

Students end rent strike, but call for further action

The Bulletin editor
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Attention turns to the Residential Tenancies Act, a piece of legislation that does not cover student accommodation, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.

The end of the strike

Back in April, I reported on the start of a “rent strike” among some students in University of Auckland halls of residence. This morning, the group behind the strike, Students for Fair Rent, has announced an end to that action. In a statement, the group criticised undefined “intimidation tactics” by the University of Auckland which contributed to an “unsafe environment for students and strikers to fight for safe, secure, and affordable accommodation”. They said the university had not engaged with the campaign, and claimed the institution had bullied students refusing to pay rent. A spokesperson for the University of Auckland rejected this and told The Bulletin just 16 students had participated in the rent strike as of the end of May. However, while the strike is ending, the campaign for fair rent is not. The group is now turning its attention to the Residential Tenancies Act, a piece of legislation that does not cover halls of residence.

Why the strike was started in the first place

As reported at the time, the strike called for Auckland University students to stop paying weekly accommodation fees beginning on May 1. There are five catered residences for Auckland University students that charge around $470 a week, while self-catered properties (typically for older students) cost around $310-$325 a week. Leonard Powell at RNZ looked at the growing cost of accommodation earlier in the year. Students for Fair Rent spokesperson Matthew Lee told me in April that these costs were well above the average cost for living in Auckland City. In an interview with a rather combative Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB last week, Lee said the strike was the only way to try and trigger change. “The university should be acknowledging that this is a real problem. We want to sit down with the university and find a solution that works for everyone,” he said. Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick backed the strike and has previously voiced support for updating the Residential Tenancies Act to include student accommodation. “Rent control is within the Residential Tenancies Act [through which] there is a limitation on how much you can increase rent by,” she said at a university debate last year. Penny Simmonds, the tertiary education minister, declined to comment to The Bulletin.

Was a strike the best course of action?

Writing for the Herald last week, Lachlan Rennie reported that some Auckland University students had had their key cards deactivated for participating in the strike, and some students had felt pressured to resume paying for accommodation. The university denied this and told The Bulletin that access cards stopped working “from time to time”. When reactivating a card, staff members would see a note highlighting any outstanding debt and may follow up on this. But, said a spokesperson: “Regardless of whether a student’s account is in arrears, their card is immediately reactivated, and the student again has access to their room.” Citizens Advice Bureau national advisor Sacha Green told the Herald that there was no “legal basis” for the rent strike given students had signed a residential agreement, and this was not protected by law. “The university has the right to decide to terminate the agreement,” said Green, who added that the institute was required to “act in good faith”. Previous student action at other universities has resulted in a backdown, such as at Wellington’s Victoria University during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Time for an update?

Swarbrick made updating the Residential Tenancies Act a key pillar of her reelection bid in Auckland Central last year, as this Newsroom report from the campaign trail examined. It also showed cross-party awareness of the issue of student accommodation, even if Swarbrick was alone in pledging change. Beyond just the issue of affordability, there have been public calls to include student accommodation in the Residential Tenancies Act. The Conversation looked at it in 2021, while this episode of The Detail from the same year honed in on a select committee inquiry into student accommodation prompted by the death of a student. Three years on, the decision to strike and to push for legislative change would suggest there’s more work to be done.