Australian Racing Board
30th August 2011
The Hon Robert McClelland MP Attorney-General for Australia Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Attorney-General,
Re: PPSA and racehorses
I am writing to you to seek your assistance in removing any doubt concerning the application of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (the PPSA) to racehorses.
By way of background, in any given year there are some 32,000 horses participating in thoroughbred racing. Ownership of racehorses may be in the form of single owners, partnerships or syndicates, so that the total number of racehorse owners is approximately 70,000, with individuals changing each year as new horses (often with different owners) are registered and others retire.
In the normal course racehorses will be in the care of persons other than their owners. These circumstances include the breaking—in of racehorses, their training by persons licensed under the Australian Rules of Racing, and the agistment of racehorses in periods when they are being spelled.
Taking the example of racehorses in training, it has been suggested to us that every agreement between racehorse owners and trainers will need to be registered in order to ensure priority. While we believe the better view is that this is not the effect of the PPSA, we are keen to see the matter put beyond doubt.
As will be readily appreciated, the compliance burden of 70,000+ racehorse owners registering these various ingredients would be substantial. Nor would it appear to be one of the intended consequences of the PPSA. And yet the high value of many racehorses is such that if any ambiguity at all exists then racehorse owners acting prudently would have little choice other than to register all of these agreements as a precautionary measure.
Australian Racing Board Limited
ACN: 104 986 334
Level 7, 51 Dart Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
Email; arbOaustrganracingboard.cantau - Tel; -F. 61 2 9551 7700 - Fax; +61 2 9551 7705
In these circumstances we respectfully request that you exercise your regulation-making power to prescribe agreements of the nature described above not to be interests to which the PP SA applies.
Finally, we note that the issue we have raised would appear to also be relevant to not only the harness and greyhound codes of racing but other livestock industries as well. This adds to the case for action to be taken to dispel any ambiguity about the effect of the PPSA.
We note that the commencement date for the PPSA legislation is 31st October 2011 therefore the matter has some urgency. If you thought that it would be useful to do so we would be happy to meet with you, and/or your advisers, at your convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Harding Chief Executive