Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I was one of those lucky people, and I know my colleague across the chamber is also one of those people. There are more and more of us every single day. Public sentiment on greyhound racing continues to shift in the right direction. A survey from January commissioned by GREY2K USA Worldwide and the Coalition for the Protection for Greyhounds found that a clear majority of people in Australia, 57 per cent, think that greyhound racing should be banned or phased out. An even larger majority, 69 per cent, opposed government subsidising the greyhound industry. These numbers are supported by polling commissioned by my own office, which found that 58 per cent of people want greyhound racing banned, and this number is significantly higher among young people and women.

So, politicians across the country are failing to listen to the community, and there's an overarching reason for this: money. As with all industries on rapidly dwindling social licence—like the fossil fuel industry now and the tobacco industry many decades ago—the gambling industry throws cash at politicians on both sides. It was recently revealed that Sportsbet paid $19,000 to the campaign of communications minister Michelle Rowland. Tabcorp has disclosed donations totalling over $3 million since 1998 to Labor, the Liberals and the other parties. I'm so proud that the Greens have never taken—and will never take—gambling and racing money. In return, state governments inflate prize money, pay breeding incentives, prop up financially failing clubs, build racetracks and maintain weak welfare oversight of the industry. The cycle of legalised corruption repeats, and greyhounds continue to die and to get injured.

The world is moving away from greyhound racing, with just a tiny number of countries left perpetrating this unfathomable cruelty. Greyhound racing must be banned. And, mark my words: on the back of people power, it will be banned.

Senate adjourned at 19:36