{"id":777021394,"date":"2024-12-10T09:03:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T12:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777021394"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:24:27","slug":"new-zealand-government-to-ban-greyhound-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/new-zealand-government-to-ban-greyhound-racing","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand government to ban greyhound racing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government plans to pass legislation under urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

New Zealand.- The government has announced that it will pass under urgency the\u00a0Racing Industry (Unlawful Destruction of Specified Greyhounds) Amendment Bill<\/strong><\/span> to ban greyhound racing in the country on the grounds of animal welfare. A transition period of 20 months would be given to allow time to find homes for racing dogs and help those involved in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy prime minister and racing minister Winston Peters<\/strong> said the injury rate among racing dogs remains too high<\/a> and that “the time has come to make a call in the best interest of the animals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe acknowledge the work done by Greyhound Racing New Zealand to improve safety.\u00a0While fewer dogs are dying, injury rates, while down slightly, have plateaued and remain unacceptably high,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cFurther legislation to enable the end to greyhound racing is required. A bill to make the necessary changes to the Racing Industry Act 2020 will be introduced to Parliament in 2025. There will be a full select committee process so everyone will have a chance to have their say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA key task will be the rehoming of the estimated 2,900 racing greyhounds in New Zealand.\u00a0An Advisory Committee has been appointed to help manage the transition process. The Committee members are Heather Simpson (Chair), Murray Johnson and Lindsay Burton. They will provide advice on ensuring animal welfare, and support for those involved in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeeping unwanted dogs safe is a priority. The Government is working with animal welfare organisations to establish programmes to support rehoming.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greyhounds Australasia<\/strong>\u00a0issued a statement urging the government to reconsider the decision: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said: “This is a disappointing move that does not reflect the significant progress made by the industry to address animal welfare concerns and improve racing safety. Closing greyhound racing will have serious, real-life consequences for the thousands of people involved in racing \u2013 decent, hardworking people who take good care of greyhounds.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greyhound Racing NSW <\/strong>in Australia said the announcement “is a response to circumstances relating specifically to the industry in New Zealand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> Tasmanian petition calls for end to state funding for greyhound racing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government plans to pass legislation under urgency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777003546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"New Zealand's government plans to urgently pass legislation banning greyhound racing due to unacceptably high injury rates, despite industry efforts to improve safety. A 20-month transition period will facilitate rehoming of approximately 2,900 dogs and support industry participants, overseen by an appointed Advisory Committee. The decision faces opposition from industry bodies like Greyhounds Australasia, which cite significant progress and potential economic hardship for those involved.","focusai_entities":"New Zealand government, Winston Peters, Greyhound Racing New Zealand, Greyhounds Australasia, Greyhound Racing NSW, Heather Simpson, Murray Johnson, Lindsay Burton","focusai_location":"New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Precedent Impact?","query":"What are the broader implications of New Zealand's greyhound racing ban for other iGaming verticals, particularly concerning regulatory risk and ESG compliance frameworks globally?"},{"label":"Transition Framework Efficacy?","query":"How will the appointed Advisory Committee ensure effective rehoming and industry support during the 20-month transition, and what governance frameworks are being established to monitor this process?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,154,158],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-777021394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777021394"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777021400,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777021394\/revisions\/777021400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777003546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777021394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777021394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777021394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}