Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin

Coast pays way

-

GOLD Coast racing has proved to be an economic windfall for the region, with the sport’s financial contributi­on nearly doubling in the past five years.

New independen­t economic data released by Racing Queensland revealed the city benefited by more than $180m in that time, while income across the state totalled $1.9bn.

On the Gold Coast, the racing industry was responsibl­e for generating $180.9m in value added to the local economy in 2020-21, which represente­d a 92 per cent increase on the 2015-16 financial year. Full-time jobs increased from 786 to 1461 in that time.

Furthermor­e, the Gold Coast Turf Club will soon reap the rewards of a $38m redevelopm­ent due to the state government’s $33m commitment through the Racing Infrastruc­ture Fund.

The project is expected to create 325 jobs during the constructi­on phase and will add more than $100m to the local economy.

The thoroughbr­ed code ($164m) was responsibl­e for most of the economic contributi­on by the racing industry in Queensland.

“The Palaszczuk government returns 35 per cent of revenue from the state’s Point of Consumptio­n Tax back into racing, which has allowed the industry to inject hundreds of millions back into the Queensland economy and create more than 4000 new jobs over the last five years,” Racing Minister Grace Grace said.

“Nearly half of this contributi­on directly benefits regional economies in Queensland, supporting more than 100 different communitie­s.”

 ?? ?? Jockey Sam Weatherley.
Jockey Sam Weatherley.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia