Politics

Melbourne Government Reverses Decision To Let Hundreds Attend Horse Race Despite Covid Risk

The initial announcement that 1250 could attend a massive Melbourne horse race caused immediate outcry.

by Joseph Earp  21 October 2020

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Yesterday, the Melbourne government announced that up to 1250 people would be permitted to attend the Cox Plate Carnival, an annual horse race, despite the obvious coronavirus risk.

Melbourne is only a few days out of a strict lockdown. To suddenly allow hundreds to gather in a small space, when a matter of days ago it was not permitted to assemble in groups of ten or so, seemed inconsistent and cruel, and motivated solely by fear of the power of the lucrative horse-racing industry.

As a result, Twitter quickly became a hotbed of outrage, with many taking to their social media in order to express their displeasure, particularly targeting Martin Pakula, a Melbourne MP and the Victorian Racing Minister.

Initially, Pakula — who has long ignored criticisms of the obvious cruelty and inhumanity of the racing industry — held fast against the outrage. He even tweeted “some context”, explaining that the Carnival required 750 staff to be there “anyway”, without realising that was a problem in and of itself: if 750 people have to be there, then the thing shouldn’t go on at all.

But within a couple of hours, and with public outcry mounting, Pakula announced that the decision had been reversed.

Of course, Pakula is here only saying that additional lookers-on won’t be allowed to attend. The Cox Plate carnival will still allow hundreds of staff to be present. Clearly, there’s still an inconsistency of rules between those for most Melbournians, and those for the horse race industry.