John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 10 September 2012:

Given that, under the Commercial Horse Assistance Payment Scheme introduced in 2007, horses were required to be in training and ready to race, or at least fit and healthy and in their stables, in order to qualify for compensation:

(1) Was an inspection ever undertaken at any racecourse or stable to verify that the returns provided by trainers matched the numbers claimed?

(2) Were racing clubs contacted in order to verify that the claimed number of horses were in fact being trained on that track; ifnot, how were the numbers verified?

(3) Was the scheme ever audited by a body such as the Australian National Audit Office?