LightsOut

who has no hesitation in sacking someone who is employed to be assisting him but undermines him by using a mitigating circumstance in order to distort the actual true facts and financial situation that existed prior which would have shown was due to largely poor decision making by management. RITA was established by the Racing Minister with the reasons why it was needed and measures required to achieve the financial results a National Industry was in serious need of to address the failings of an Organisation that was established to fund and ensure of it's survival. Functions of RITA.The functions of the Agency are—(aa)to lead and manage the reform of New Zealand racing during the transition period, including (without limitation) by—(i)implementing a fit-for-purpose organisational structure for the governance of the racing industry:ii)preparing for the transfer of the Agency’s functions to the racing codes and its successor organisation:(iii)supporting sustainability of the racing industry by undertaking initiatives to ensure efficiency and drive revenue growth:(iv)carrying out any other things necessary or desirable to promote the objective of reforming New Zealand racing: For Stephen Henry to inform staff that a review of staff numbers and departments was necessitated due to Covid -19 is misleading the actual truth. An accounting error added a few million to the TABS dire position without any help by a virus. Covid-19 was the 2nd wave of a virus to hit the TAB. A man made virus stuck there just over 5 years ago after been developed at two Government Agencys NZ Post and MFAT. The original carrier was found and removed but host carriers still need to be removed also. The virus introduced a stronger host costing millions and is still sucking the life out of the racing industry. Covid-19 just hovered up the small remaining pieces. Last time Henry spoke to the media regarding the financial plight of the TAB he tried to add his senior management humour re cutting the sausage rolls which given the context of just how bad things really were and resulting impacts that could effect staff wasn't smart. Management jokes should know they don't make good comedians. After cleaning out the Industrys funds and adding millions in debt along with a lemon of a betting platform overrun by millions which the CEO told the Industry will pay for itself in 3 years by making 17 million a year but oddly didnt inform the Industry its actually going to cost 17 million a year to run and service (racing and maths knowledge both obviously were poor). Senior management who lacked the knowledge and experience to be spending millions of the Industrys money on a Lemon will now be deciding on staff who will be losing their jobs. They created the first wave of destruction to happen so more staff now will lose their jobs with Covid-19 chiming in late. I believe the Govt will bail them out with stringent conditions attached and the number 1 condition which any Fortune 500 Company and their shareholders would expect to be the number 1 condition isn't hard to work out. You can keep dumping millions of taxpayers money into a leaking structure but unless you make the obvious changes needed nothing will change it will only take a bit to finally sink. Got to hand it to them though they are better illusionists than Copperfield by making $50 million turn into a Lemon.

Sesqui 1990 was a festival that was staged in February 1990 in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. A spectacular commercial and administrative failure, the Sesqui event has subsequently become an icon of corporate mismanagement within New Zealand popular culture. No better man 30 years on to re-create history. As he says in his own words " I’m a serial failure – in the sense that I have done lots that has gone wrong". The NZ TAB should re-name their Betting Platform 'Son Of Sesqui' it has the right breeding Sesqui: A spectacular commercial and administrative failure, an icon of corporate mismanagement. If you can't get to sleep over the Lockdown read John Allen's interview (conducted by a firm he once had shares in so it's not staged in anyway ) https://minterellison.co.nz/our-view/an-interview-with-john-allen-ceo-of-new-zealand-racing-board

As P T Barnum once said: How true a quote. One thing P T Barnum and the last two CEO's of the TAB had in common was they were all showmen.

The Racing Board has a 5 year and 10 year contract with Paddy Power and Open Bet regarding the new betting platform with the ongoing costs associated at $17 million. If the NZ TAB decide to outsource their gambling to overseas as was mentioned in teh Messara Report to consider they are stuffed as the clowns who signed the contract between the TAB and the above two parasites must relate to this mention in the TAB Annual Report: A contract is considered non-cancellable for any period where either no cancellation provision exists in the contract or where the requirements or costs of cancellation are so significant that cancellation of the contract is remote. Non-cancellable contracts held by NZRB predominantly comprise technical services associated with the broadcasting of racing plus telecommunication services and fixed odds betting platform

Glenda is on the outer with National.

To be fair Pam the Racing Board and RITA spun that much crap at the Industry I guess it was hard for many to decipher fact from bullshit when they only had figures spin doctored to them and not actually able to view the true financial situation as well as costs of major projects. 2019/20 RITA statement of intent includes: OUR PURPOSE Lead and deliver a programme of change over the next twelve months to transition the New Zealand racing industry to a financially sustainable future. KEY RESULTS • Delivering the Minister’s significant legislative agenda • Reshaping the TAB to improve efficiency and be more commercially focused • Realising new revenue streams • Increasing distributions to the codes and thereby growing prize-money which pays owners, trainers, jockeys and drivers Deliver on the government’s intentions by taking decisions in the commercial interests of the industry - considering the long term vision for a revitalised and sustainable industry, where participants are valued and able to prosper (ha ha good one) and the industry contributes to its full potential for the benefit of the New Zealand economy. Read and weep. https://www.rita.org.nz/sites/default/files/documents/SOI_2019_Report_RITA_FINAL%401101.pdf

The above should be listed in the 'Worlds top 100 crimes'

and a situation where the NZ TAB could quote the Fair Trading Act as they are not getting treated fairly & equally. The NZ TAB only has 3 lawyers so guess they re understaffed so that's why they haven't made the call. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/sportsroom/2019/07/04/666276/tab-to-get-more-pokies-run-virtual-horse-races-in-2020 Plans to include legislation allowing virtual horse racing in the first Racing Reform Act were scrapped due to DIA advice that the fact that race outcomes were computer generated meant they were not actually races (I wonder how many meetings were needed to come to that ground breaking conclusion). So today the NZ TAB can take betting on Esports and listed today is The Outright Winner of Race 1 at Mount Panarama. So lets get this right the NZ TAB can't have virtual racing because legislation to introduce it was scrapped because the DIA said the outcomes were computer generated. Why try and clone Einstein when you have the DIA who can come to world breaking conclusions like that eg virtual racing results are computer generated. Wow and because the race outcomes are computer generated they are not actually races which must also mean as Alexa is computer generated she isn't actually a woman. So the NZ Racing Industry pay $50 million for a watered down version of what an actual betting platform should deliver but can't use it to offer virtual horse racing but a NZ sports code eg Car Racing can receive no doubt a % of betting on a virtual betting car race which required no legislation to introduce on the $50 million dollar piece of crap which no NZ Sports code paid any funds towards its development. Unlike what the DIA determined re 'a virtual horse race' isn't actually a race because as the outcomes are computed generated. So the DIA in their wisdom scrap proposed legislation to allow virtual racing because outcomes were computer generated so therefore you cant include the word race ($%&*k me). If that bullshit is the case call it virtual, horse lotto, horse bingo,horse event,horse shit who cares just replace the 'race' to whatever. I guess they ran out of time as that would have taken 6 meetings to work out what to wife. Ever wonder why the Racing Industry just keeps getting another nail in the coffin? When you have the above bullshit determined by an outfit clueless on horse racing and gambling advising an Organisation like the NZ TAB run by clueless management what other result can you end up with. As such, the DIA “considers that any work on virtual racing games may be more appropriately dealt within broader work on the policy and regulatory settings relating to online gambling”. What a lot of ill informed bullshit, have a look at My Lotto and go to Instant games. There is an online virtual horse race you can bet on no legislation needed to run this race.The outcome is computer generated but unlike what was advised to the NZ TAB NZ Lotto list it as a race. The DIA give gambling policy advice to Government and administer the legislation on it and report any breaches of the Act yet one outfit they watch over can have betting on a virtual horse race while the other one can't. So betting regulations on virtual horse racing can be offered to customers by one NZ gambling type monopoly but not allowed by another and the conditions relating to it once again allowed by one and not the other. And the Government appointed Agency administers the gambling affairs of both of these organisations. What a winning combination the NZ TAB management and the DIA NZ Lotto Then you have Sky City Auckland who stuck it up the DIA by setting up an online casino with slots overseas. Only New Zealanders can register to the site but guess what virtual racing which includes gallops,harness and greyhounds. Oh and even though its virtual computer generated results they are listed as races. Lovely isn't it 3 NZ gambling Organisations and the 1 who financially supports the NZ Racing Industry is the only one who can't offer its customers Virtual Racing which obviously at times like now would offer a novelty type betting option. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just more crap one reads. Have to agree with the Problem Gambling Foundation on the above. The TAB's claim that their staff is better trained to detect that a customer's gambling activity will lead to gambling harm is laughable. Staff knowledge and understanding to assess if a customer is a problem gambler is only as good as the ability of management to train them in this area. Given the overall management ability of the TAB this claim of having better trained staff than other gambling organisations to see any problem gambling activity would only be believable if those other organisations employed staff who use braille. The NZ TAB is so well trained up in staff responsibility they have ramped up sign-up and bonus bet numbers and amounts. These type of promotions especially bonus bets have been proven in medical papers worldwide to cause and also to increase problem gambling resulting in financial hardship and suicides from customers targeted in these types of promotions. In Australia May 2019, the National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering came into place prohibiting betting sites from advertising any form of incentive to place a bet, including: sign up and bonus bets. Word is the NZ TAB is that desperate to get TAB account holder numbers up they have targeted Gambler Anonymous members around the country and told them they can open a TAB account by replacing the customer name with a number and signing it with an X.

H ha one apparently they have 3 qualified lawyers, God knows what they have done and do now.

Well I have about 5 mates who have been laid off eg their Companys got rid of them, how do you think Air NZ did it come on wake up. Didn't you read on-course presenters who were on contract eg Guerin and Whale along with Des Coppijns were on contracts and were told 2 weeks ago last gigs so clearly your wrong. Coppins was told on Friday your Sunday show is your last.If a company has no money there is no redundancies it's pretty simple. The employees can stay but they obviously wont be if they are not getting paid.

limit the impact from the virus. Remember unlike the NZ TAB Tabcorp are still holding race meetings. Tab corp's management have taken the right approach to limit as much financial damage as they can. The only approach I have seen in the media re the NZ TAB acting in the same vein is some clown saying they have cut managements morning sausage rolls. The place was in financial ruin before the virus and now added with that impact hitting the Industry well its basically f#$@ed, so why hasn't the Industry seen a responsible and proactive approach by the NZ TAB as in Tabcorps press release below ? Once again sadly its blatantly obvious it's because they have no idea how and where to cut costs which is in sharp contrast to their own ideas where to spend Industry money which more often than not is a bad investment. I fail to see why the Government would entertain a rescue package when they go cap in hand to them and yet all you read about re their cost cutting in relation to what they will want monetary wise is sadly is laughable. People I know in the Industry were pissed off pre corona with the RITA's lack of cost cutting and restructuring from day 1 when they were put in place and now coupled with embarrassing ''lackluster' efforts to limit the virus impact they all said the same thing in a round about way "why would the Goverment entertain them". I wonder if all RITA Board members like Tabcorp's took a cut in their fees the are paid (don't hold your breath on that one ). Given their efforts to date the Industry should be seeking a refund of fees paid to them for the last 8 months as pre virus nothing was delivered as expected and promised. lackluster (comparative more lackluster, superlative most lackluster) (American spelling) Lacking brilliance or intelligence. Having no shine or lustre; dull. quotations ▼ Not exceptional; not worthy of special merit, attention, or interest; having no vitality. Yes luckluste given the above definition of the word 100% = the NZ TAB Tabcorp standing down 700+ staff to limit COVID-19 impact BY Steven Stradbrooke ON April 07, 2020 TAGS: AUSTRALIA, CORONAVIRUS, TABCORP Australian lottery and betting operator Tabcorp Holdings is laying off over 700 staff to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations. On Tuesday, Tabcorp announced several measures intended to blunt the impact of COVID-19 on its bottom line, including the “temporary standing down of over 700 Tabcorp employees to 30 June 2020 in businesses of the Group where there is no work as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns.” Last month, Tabcorp lost the use of many of its TAB betting agencies following the government’s order to close most public entertainment venues. TAB retail operations outside these venues were further impaired by the suspension of most major sports leagues. Tabcorp says affected employees can access their accrued leave benefits, and the company is exploring its eligibility for the federal government’s Job Keeper Wage Subsidy, which provides AU$750 per week for up to six months for companies that qualify. Tabcorp is also requiring unaffected full-time staff to take “at least one day of leave per week” from now until June 30. Tabcorp is also making an “initial reduction” of around 40% of its technology contractors. Tabcorp’s executive ranks aren’t escaping the cuts, with CEO David Attenborough agreeing to cut his remuneration by 20% until June 30. Members of Tabcorp’s board of directors are taking a 10% cut on top of the 10% cut they agreed to last September. Tabcorp is also taking steps to boost liquidity, including securing an additional AU$226m short-term facility, reviewing its capital expenditure program and deferring payment of certain state payroll, Keno and lotteries taxes that typically amount to AU$40m per month. Tabcorp’s situation would be even worse were it not for the fact that Australia’s racing industry has bucked the global trend by carrying on with its events, albeit ‘behind closed doors’ with only essential personnel in attendance. Tabcorp’s lottery operations at newsagents, convenience stores and other outlets are also carrying on more or less as usual. Ditto for its digital wagering channels, although the company likely wishes it had completed the migration of Tatts Group’s UBET customers to a single integrated betting platform ahead of schedule. TAB’s digital business suffered an own goal this weekend after its Cash Out product offered seriously generous rates ahead of the last leg of some ‘quaddie’ bets (four-leg parlays). After realizing its error, Tabcorp was forced to freeze 1,300 betting accounts in an attempt to prevent more punters from withdrawing their ill-gotten gains. Tabcorp’s Cash Out function was inoperable Sunday while its technicians tried to uncover the source of the glitch

If I was running the place I would be doing some arbitraging by replacing senior management with a couple of the cleaners.

and why the Industry is a broken model. Clueless management enticed the worlds biggest rebater to come and bet in NZ by offering an obscene rebate % to him. That's why the NZ and Vic Tab don't commingle trifecta pools NZ Takeout % is 25% on Tri's and Tabcorps 20% so lets say (unbelievably) your giving away 15% in rebates your not going going to be able to drop to 20% as once other costs taken out eg fees to Aussies on their races along with tax gee whats left zero,nothing zip eg your F@#$ed just as it happened blow. Get the turnover up and say 'look how well we are doing" and the idiots pat themselves on the back and high five then at the end of the financial year 'oh gee our turnover is up and profit is down by millions. Rebate % on other options will not be as high as takeout rate on Tris' is a lot higher than others. Hello is anyone home? So by catering to Mr Big NZ Punters are left with basically crap tri pools on Aust harness and greyhounds when they race into the evening as no co-mingling. As the clueless Aussie's (no surprise it happened here) found out below when someone doesn't actually bet but speculates with a computer program based on exorbitant rebates they are financially raping the Industry. So then your broke (before Corona) and go cap in hand to the Government asking for a rescue plan but you fail to tell them you have and still are giving away millions in rebates to one customer ohh but he does inflate our turnover figures. The bottom line is the Industry will never financially improve itself until you get rid of dimwitted senior management who continue to piss Industry money down the drain. I wouldn't give the Industry a bean if I was the Government until I has seen heads roll for the position they are currently in and if you bring up it happened only because of the virus you would be shown the door and told don't come back. Story from 2012 and history repeats itself just with a different TAB. This is just one area of f%$^%ups by clueless out of depth and no betting knowledge management. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE state opposition wants claims a massive betting syndicate systematically milked taxpayer-owned betting agency Tote Tasmania of tens of millions of dollars, effectively leaving it unprofitable, investigated by a parliamentary committee. An Australian Financial Review article claimed the syndicate, run by Hobart-born gambler Zeljko Ranogajec, convinced Tote to pay it rebates in return for its betting dollar. It said these rebates allowed Mr Ranogajec's syndicate to run a system which saw it profit from Tote regardless of whether its bets won or lost. Tote says the claims are wrong. It would not confirm or deny it had a rebate deal with Mr Ranogajec. Quoting a source ``with intimate knowledge of the Tote Tasmania business'', the AFR report said Tote paid out an estimated $45 million in rebates in the 2011 financial year, ``most of that would have been to Zeljko (Ranogajec)''. Tote returned a profit of just $1.7 million in the same year, despite a turnover of close to a billion dollars. Dick McIlwain, chief executive of Tatts Group, which bought Tote from the government for $103 million in December, told the AFR the business had given its profits away. ``They (Tote Tasmania) rebated the backside out of the business until there was nothing left,'' he said. Tote Tasmania chief executive Craig Coleman denied this. Mr Coleman acknowledged rebates were paid to high-end punters but not at a loss. ``Any suggestion that our profit result in 2010-11 was a result of rebates and commissions paid to larger customers is simply incorrect . . . our 2010-11 profit reduced because of increased compliance costs . . . and costs associated with race field fees, core wagering system replacement and labour,'' Mr Coleman said. ``The unsuccessful sale process that concluded in December 2009, that saw a loss of key customers and personnel, also contributed to the fall in profit.'' According to its five-year summary, Tote's expenses increased by 20.7 per cent in 2011, from $82.6 million in 2010 to $99.7 million, while its income rose 3.5 per cent, from $98 million to $101.4 million. At the same time its turnover increased by 27 per cent, from $745.8 million to $950.7 million, and profit dropped 88.9 per cent, from $15.3 million to $1.7 million. Mr Coleman said Tote continued to pay rebates this financial year. Opposition Treasury spokesman Peter Gutwein said the public had a right to know if Tote was giving away millions in rebates. ``I am so concerned by comments from Tatts Group CEO Dick McIlwain that I have spoken to the chair of the committee investigating the sale of Tote Tasmania, urging him to call Mr McIlwain to appear before the committee,'' he said. A spokesman for Racing Minister Bryan Green said the government was not aware of the rebate deals between Tote and high-end gamblers and would not be drawn on whether the minister supported them. RECOMMENDED Winery enjoying returns from holistic approachFUTURE FOCUSPart II: Launceston sporting nicknames explainedCRICKETCan Australia be a renewable energy superpower?FUTURE FOCUSCall for moratorium on drug offencesCO

100% correct so what you do is exactly what responsible Companies do on behalf of their shareholders you lay then all off and advise them when racing resumes racing won't be the same as we knew it pre Corona and there will only be a few meetings each month so obviously staffing levels will decrease. 20 jobs will become 8 and everyone will have the opportunity to apply for those jobs (no one outside). But no what do they do nothing just look to put their hands out and think the world owes them a living. They are just making the ship sink faster.

The RIU expenses and salaries are around 9 million a year and the costs were paid from the pokie trust so where exactly will that money come from now they are all shut down? At least the RIU have laid half their staff off. The couple of ex D's surely won't be getting paid as they will have their police supers to live on.

I don't hold much hope for Clubs doing their own things. Maybe the codes in charge of doing that. #3 yes 100% correct

Maybe RITA could be transparent and if advise the Industry if they are saving in costs by having to pay less to Open Bet and Paddy Power the 17 million a year in expenses to them, sadly I doubt it as the clown management no doubt signed on the dotted line in the 5 and 10 year contracts that it was a set cost rather than one based on turnover. At least going with TABCORP would get rid of these parasites.

Just more absolute waffle as mentioned above. The Industry was but sadly your Organisation wasn't. The e-mail sent to the Codes recently was embarrassing and full of drivel. Let's get one thing perfectly straight the NZ TAB hasn't been normal organisation place for many many years. That's one thing the TAB has been very good at operating in over recent years 'behind closed doors'. No transparency and when it comes out eg re mistake in accounting errors we still see no transparency. 'Now moved?' It has taken RITA a long long time and wake up and realise just what is happening in the real world, your that far behind it's like your a racehorse still running to finish race 1 and punters just got paid out for the last race of the day. %$%^ me the Board are still running in the first race. Why are they thinking about a plan if racing stops in Aussie? they can't even get a decent plan into action when NZ racing stopped. Obviously there have been no cuts of costs of any magnitude as if there was we would have heard about it. I am starting to wonder if not having to purchase toilet paper because no one is working at Head Office might be the lead area of cost cutting. %$#% me the sole purpose of RITA was to do exactly that when they were given full control in the middle of last year. You were not meant to wait until Corona struck there was already a virus of incompetency at the TAB when you took over to clean out. The Industry can't survive two virus's. Yes the bank $35 - $45 million in debt now and if the conversation with the Government was along the lines of that first e-mail just put the white flag out now. There were only a few sadly who worked that out a few years ago before the virus struck. Once again more drivel you were supposed to be doing this months ago %$%^& me. Cutting costs? I wouldn't want RITA in charge of cutting an apple. Hello the racing industry was facing stress and hardship well before any virus all I have seen since the middle of last year more added and now they have to deal with this going on. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God help the Industry because I would be getting the white flag out now knowing that it has no hope from what I have seen over the past 8 months to counter the mess it was in before that due to total incompetency from management with no idea. I don't know if you can catch the Corona virus twice but the NZ Racing Industry has caught the clueless management virus twice in under a year. I don't hold out much hope for the Government bailing it out as someone with half a clue in there will be saying 'these clowns couldn't get their own house in order before the virus why would we want to tip good money into a badly run organisation". Yes the Industry does need to survive for the benefit of many involved in it but tipping money into the NZ TAB isn't the right thing to be doing basically its had it's time and the Government need to look at other options. The South Australian TAB was given away by the Government 10 years ago that's given away they were running at a loss and the Government knew the taxpayers didn't want to see more money dumped into it. It is now a pointless excercise as to who owns it, its a leaking business that would have been shut down owing millions. I would go cap in hand to the Victorian TAB and put a proposal to them to take over the NZ TAB totally with the only cost the $45 million bank debt. It's a great deal but I don't even know if they would be interested which really shows you just how bad things were and now have progressed even further. The Government will still get a tax from it they don't have to dump millions and millions into a badly run organisation which can't operate as it should be and the clubs will still get revenue to support the Industry. The Industry was in a sick but recoverable state before but unfortunately now with the virus it's in a terminal state. One cost I would be adding to RITA is getting someone outside to vet any further e-mails to the Industry and the codes they are in my view cringe and condescending material.

Once upon a time the NZ TAB was an essential service to the NZ Racing Industry so it could be looked after properly. If they have blocked you there is a God.

Yes I heard a lot of things get picked up on the phone lines there so no surprise.

Living the dream,another idiot he obviously can't comprehend when a dream is actually a nightmare.

When the head of RITA was asked a a few months back what was the reason why three senior management flew over to Ireland to see Paddy Power at around 70k cost to the Industry and the reply back was that it never happened right then it was very obvious to a few that RITA never had a grip on what was actually going on and where money was getting spent, even though RITA informed the Industry they were in total control of management and expenditure. Once people outside knew what had happened and RITA were clueless to it that was an indication it won't be long before it's "Lights Out' Wonder if that little junket was coded in another expense by error

Would expect all GM's are given 24 hours to either resign or get sacked and that includes any clown who put the new betting platform proposal to the Board at the time. Any business shareholder would be expecting nothing less as would the Government before they even consider helping out the Industry. Should have happened day 1 when RITA took over the place. Coding accounting error?? Just checked the calendar it's definitely not April 1st today. They would have known exactly where it went which makes you wonder how many so called 'accounting errors' are in the books. Robbing Peter to pay Paul - To take something from one source of funds and use it towards another.

Whoever changed it probably doesn't realise that tote and fixed odds are two completely different selling options. The old cliche 'the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing' couldn't be more fitting. Can't argue there, sucked the Industry dry so now it's time to move onto your customers.

on Trackside TV the fixed and tote win odds. What possible reason would you change it for when your customers have become used to the layout. Their website shows the runners fixed odds followed by the tote odds which rightly so in the past mirrored the odds shown on Trackside. You display web and visual information to your customers in uniformity not in reverse order. I know its only minor but why the change? Someone trying to justify their existence?