FORMER Liberal rural firebrand Wilson Tuckey has taken a heavy swipe at the NSW Nationals for betraying the party’s heartland voters by axing the State’s greyhound racing industry.
The one-time WA rural MP has demanding all sitting members of the party now be judged for their actions by opening up a vote for grassroots members at new pre-selection contests.
He’s also criticised NSW Nationals’ leader and Deputy Premier Troy Grant for dumping two party members from ministerial roles for crossing the floor last week to support their constituents, by voting against the controversial decision to ban greyhounds.
Mr Tuckey has also warned the decision to phase-out the sport by July 1 next year due to animal cruelty concerns could now incentivise economic activity away from NSW regional towns and across borders into neighbouring States like Victoria.
Mr Tuckey represented the sparse rural seat of O’Connor in federal parliament from 1980 to 2010 and is now an occasional media commentator.
He spoke up after NSW Nationals’ MPs Katrina Hodgkinson and Chris Gulaptis were sacked from their parliamentary secretary roles by Mr Grant last week in a move that’s being viewed as retribution for them taking a firm democratic stance on the controversial greyhound racing ban.
Mr Tuckey told Fairfax Agricultural Media the NSW Nationals’ leader had demoted two of his own MPs for not supporting government legislation designed to deliver a “deliberate blow” to an industry that provided significant employment and entertainment within the party’s “heartland”.
He said that move questioned the credibility of the entire Nationals’ rhetoric of ‘we stand for the bush'.
Mr Tuckey said the Nationals would have no credibility in State or Federal politics unless it immediately called for preselection in the seats of all sitting members, to let grassroots party members pass judgement on its recent actions in the NSW parliament.
“The Nats simply can’t have it both ways more particularly when their elected leaders are promoting such an attack upon the people they claim to specially represent,” he said.
“The fact that Tony Grant acted against his detractors within the party raises the issue that in his mind he and his mignons should be more interested in their ministerial jobs more so than their constituents.”
Mr Tuckey questioned Mr Grant’s ongoing leadership and whether party members should now be calling for a spill motion, when the leader “treats them like mushrooms”.
“Things have sure changed since my time in politics,” he said.
‘When Malcolm Turnbull was leader of the Opposition and pulled that trick over the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2009 I called a spill motion.
“Some of Malcolm’s supporters tried to laugh it off but when I was questioned by media at a doorstop interview I reminded them that once a spill is called it eventually results in the leader calling it on them-selves and it always ends up with a defeat; even when the first spill fails.
“Recent history is my defender.”
Mr Tuckey said the “injustice” of the greyhound racing ban – which has sparked calls by the Greens for a nationwide ban on the sport and emboldened animal rights activists who want to shut down all animal use industries like beef-cattle or sheep production - further emphasised his call for a federal regulatory body to supervise gambling on racing and sports betting.
He said that body’s responsibilities should include the imposition of fees and levies with those proceeds utilised to fund the body and organisations that provide the betting products like greyhound racing, comparative to the betting turnover they generate.
Mr Tuckey said NSW Premier Mike Baird and Mr Grant now intended to continue to raise taxes for consolidated revenue upon dog races run in other States, without contributing a cent to their operation.
“As an aside however my thoughts turn back to the years when NSW was the sole provider of pokies and the Murray River bank, on the NSW side, was covered with licensed ‘golf clubs’ to which regular bus-loads of day-trippers attended from other States, to play their pokies,” he said.,
“The dog industry might take note.”
Mr Grant’s office was contacted by Fairfax Agricultural Media but declined to comment on Mr Tuckey’s claims.
Mr Gulaptis and Ms Hodgkinson were replaced in the NSW ministry by Mr Grant’s decision by party member Adam Marshall and Bronnie Taylor who voted for the greyhound racing ban.
The NSW Coalition made an executive decision to ban greyhound racing following a report from the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Greyhound Racing Industry by former High Court Justice Michael McHugh.
The report found “overwhelming” evidence of systemic animal cruelty, including mass greyhound killings and live baiting.
It concluded the NSW greyhound racing industry had fundamental animal welfare issues, integrity and governance failings that can’t be remedied.
Last week, NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon launched her party’s bid to ban greyhound racing throughout Australia
The NSW government’s decision was also welcomed by animal rights advocates like Voiceless and Animals Australia that, like the Greens, have also campaigned for a ban on livestock exports from Australia and oppose other animal use industries.
The greyhound racing ban has also caused a rift between the NSW Nationals and the federal party with several senior members, including leader Barnaby Joyce and Small Business Minister Michael McCormack being openly critical of the ban.
Last month Mr Joyce said he supported live exports and was always “natural enough very sceptical” about government interventions and tried to stay away from “banning anything”.
“If you ban things, I think you have to be careful (because) you start hurting people that you didn’t expect to hurt,” he said.
“It’s best to try and work with the industry and get them to sort of sort out their problems.”
Mr McCormack has described the ban decision as “hasty” with Transport Minister and Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester has said a vast number of people are effectively being punished “for the misdeeds of a smaller number of people”.