IF you thought the battle between prominent owner, breeder and disgruntled Member Wally Gleeson and the Brisbane Racing Club was over, think again. It’s only just begun.
Gleeson believes the court proceedings involving Racing NSW and the Australia Turf Club could have a major bearing on his grievances with the BRC.
“My supporters and I eagerly await the legal outcome of that case as we believe it directly influences the reason why Racing Queensland has refused to investigate the BRC Board and its directors”, Gleeson said
“It will be particularly significant should the court conclude that Racing NSW has the power to intervene in the affairs of its licenced race clubs under the Racing Act. Both the Queensland and NSW Racing Acts mirror each other with respect to their powers between the regulators (RNSW and RQ) and their clubs.
“Evidence was presented in December 2024 to the then Chairman of Racing Queensland (RQ) Steve Wilson (a lawyer I believe) of serious concerns around integrity, transparency and accountability at the Brisbane Racing Club and its Directors regarding conflicts of interest.
“The Chairman and the RQ Legal Department engaged external lawyers Clayton Utz to peruse the evidence and report back. Part of the advice from the external lawyers, conveniently using the word ‘complaint’ rather than ‘public interest disclosure’ (a complaint may be interpreted as a personal grievance rather than its true intention which was as a disclosure in the public interest) was:
“To be properly assessed, the subject matter of the Complaint requires further investigation.”
“However, Racing Queensland does not possess the statutory powers to undertake an investigation of the kind which would be required to properly assess the Complaint and afford procedural fairness to all concerned.
“RQ Chairman Wilson subsequently advised me in a telephone conversation that the Queensland Racing Act was nothing more than ‘a toothless tiger’.
