Trad won’t follow NSW lead over tax returns

QUEENSLAND Treasurer Jackie Trad said she had no intention to “copy” the blueprint set by NSW as speculation over the racing industry’s return from the Point Of Consumption Tax continued at Estimates hearings this week.

NSW has committed about $40 million to the three codes of racing from its 10 per cent POC revenues and on Tuesday night Opposition Deputy Leader Tim Mander asked Trad if the same would happen in Queensland.

“When determining policies for Queensland I will not be looking to NSW. I will be looking to Queensland and Queenslanders,” Trad said.

She said she “will be talking to the racing and gaming sector here in Queensland” and not just copying “what the Coalition government in New South Wales is doing”.

In Queensland, the Government is yet to reveal what will be returned to racing, with the Treasurer saying consultation is continuing.

It is understood UBET will seek a deduction from its annual fee paid to Racing Queensland (under the existing licensing agreement) for whatever extra expenses it incurs under a POC tax.

That deduction is expected to be returned to RQ via the POC fund, to ensure racing can continue. A deduction of that magnitude would be a “lights out” scenario for Queensland racing if the industry was not compensated for it.

That still leaves revenues from other wagering providers to be determined, with Trad saying “consultation is under way”, with what she referred to as the “gaming industry”.

“Whatever is hypothecated back to the gaming industry will be something that we undertake in consultation with them,” she said.