THE Palaszczuk Government’s interim Racing Queensland board has had a major setback with the sudden resignation of Thoroughbred code chair Jim Rundle after a series of seemingly anti-Islamic posts were uncovered on his social media account.
Mr Rundle was part of new interim four-person board of Racing Queensland announced by Racing Minister Grace Grace on Saturday, April 2 with the full board to be appointed after the Queensland Racing Integrity Bill is passed.
The remaining interim appointees are Board chair Steve Wilson, Harness code chair Margaret Reynolds and Greyhound code chair Dale Cartwright.
An additional three appointees will then be made to the board selected on the basis of their expertise in business and financial management, law and marketing, as well as animal welfare experience.
The revelations of the damaging posts urging followers not to support halal-friendly brands such as Nestle and Cadbury came after The Courier-Mail revealed pressure was mounting on the former Rockhampton trainer to resign after senior members of the Brisbane training fraternity said he was “not the desired person for the job”.
The newspaper reports Mr Rundle initially defended his online actions but after being contacted by the Racing Minister to explain the posts, Mr Rundle immediately handed in his resignation.
Ms Grace said the Government did not accept religious intolerance. “That’s why we couldn’t allow this appointment to stand. The inflammatory language and disrespectful sentiments in posts shared by Mr Rundle do nothing to promote tolerance and cohesion. The views he has associated himself with are unacceptable and divisive, and we need to send out a very clear message that they have no place in modern Queensland,” she said.
Voiceless racing industry
ANOTHER Labor bungle that leaves the racing industry rudderless and voiceless more than 10 months after the Palaszczuk Labor Government sacked the entire Queensland Racing Board is how Shadow Racing Minister Jann Stuckey has described Jim Rundle’s resignation from the interim Racing Queensland Board.
Ms Stuckey said Mr Rundle’s resignation after just two days showed Labor was frozen at the wheel and incapable of taking Queensland’s racing industry forward.
“Minister Grace Grace’s hand-picked appointment and mate of former Minister Bill Byrne showed her complete lack of judgment and revealed what the industry feared all along – Labor isn’t serious about the racing industry,” Ms Stuckey said.
“Mr Rundle is also listed as the president of the Queensland Trainers Association on its website. Minister Grace needs to provide proof he resigned from this position prior to his appointment given the Racing Act excludes an office holder of an industry body from being appointed to the Board. This is yet another example of sloppy governance from an incompetent Minister who is clueless about racing and has further eroded confidence in this vital industry.
“The appointment of Mr Rundle as the representative of Thoroughbred racing was met with cries of condemnation from leading trainers and owners in the industry and that was before any of his social media posts even aired. The Thoroughbred industry – which is the biggest code of racing – has had no voice since all boards were sacked last June,” Ms Stuckey said.
RQ chair has corporate experience
RACING Minister Grace Grace says respected Queensland business leader Steve Wilson has appointed new interim Racing Queensland chair via an independent, merit-based selection process.
“Steve Wilson brings a wealth of business and corporate experience to the role. For 30 years, he was chair and CEO of an ASX-listed financial services company which he successfully transformed from stockbroking into funds management and he has intimate knowledge of corporate governance. Mr Wilson has also served as chair of Brisbane’s South Bank Corporation for 16 years and been a director of Telstra and Tourism Queensland.
“His other governance experience includes as chair of the St John’s Cathedral Completion Fund, deputy chair of the Queensland Rugby Union and founding director of the Yalari Indigenous Advisory Board and the Brisbane Institute. Steve was also a successful Thoroughbred breeding syndicate member and horse owner on his cattle property,” she said.
Ms Grace said the interim chair’s immediate task would be to oversee the recruitment of a permanent Racing Queensland CEO. “Longer term, he will provide industry-wide leadership to develop new commercial opportunities in the industry. Mr Wilson takes up the role at an exciting time, with the industry entering a new era of expansion and growth. Queensland’s premier racecourse Eagle Farm comes back online in May, promising greater wagering turnover and industry returns. There is now an unprecedented opportunity to generate growth in the Queensland racing industry, and we’re determined to seize this opportunity,” she said
