Is The RIB Worth The Cost

[scooby3051]

I’ve been hearing for some time that serious information was provided to the Racing Integrity Board regarding someone within racing. I’m not suggesting anyone is guilty of anything  allegations are simply allegations until they are properly investigated.

What I do find concerning is that, from what I’ve been told, the RIB said they were too busy. If that’s true, it raises some important questions, especially after other recent high profile cases that have made people wonder whether the RIB has the resources, capability and capacity to fully exercise the powers it has been given.This isn’t about targeting individuals. It’s about confidence, faith and integrity within our industry.

Racing is built on trust. Owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff and punters need confidence that when serious concerns are raised, they will be investigated properly and independently.Just as importantly, young people considering a future in racing need to know they are entering an industry that is run properly, operates with integrity and will protect them if issues arise. They should be able to feel safe, supported and confident that there are systems in place to hold people accountable when questions are raised.

The RIB reportedly costs almost $18 million a year. If serious matters cannot be properly investigated, then it is reasonable to ask some fair questions.

 Does the RIB have enough resources to properly investigate serious complaints?

Does it have sufficient powers?

If it does, are those powers being fully used?I’m not making accusations. I’m simply asking whether enough is being done, and if not, why not. The industry deserves confidence in its leadership, confidence in its integrity, and confidence that everyone involved is being properly protected fairly and evenly.

[Gruff]

Get rid of them,integrity unit is a stretch

[Mindy]

All very good questions. If you have a code of conduct, strict rules, and invest a fortune in a body to uphold those, then the industry participants should have a reasonable expectation that the job will be done. If not, then why not? 
And who do you turn to if the RIB don’t do their job? 

[Pam Robson]

Police?

[Leggy]

Hard to see how they could be too busy to investigate allegations of a serious racing matter if they had been provided with valid information about it. Are you sure that decision wasn't influenced by someone/s outside the RIB?

 

The functions of the Board are— Compliance    

(a) to employ and train stipendiary stewards and racing investigators to perform and exercise the functions, duties, and powers in each code’s racing rules:

204 The functions of Stipendiary Stewards and Investigators are to:
(a) maintain the integrity of Races and racing;
(b) regulate and oversee all Race day matters and all matters related to Races and racing;
(c) investigate potential breaches of the Rules;
(d) assist in relation to licensing matters; and
(e) generally, to do all things necessary so that Races and racing are conducted efficiently and with
integrity and in accordance with these Rules

 

[scooby3051]

11 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

Police?

I do not think the police can overrule the RIB and that the police will tell you its a RIB matter if I am not mistaken.

[Pam Robson]

12 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

I do not think the police can overrule the RIB and that the police will tell you its a RIB matter if I am not mistaken.

Ok, probably in a general rules- of- racing matter, yes.  But there might be other situations such as fraud, or physical assault, where police might be invoked.

[scooby3051]

8 hours ago, Leggy said:

Hard to see how they could be too busy to investigate allegations of a serious racing matter if they had been provided with valid information about it. Are you sure that decision wasn't influenced by someone/s outside the RIB?

 

The functions of the Board are— Compliance    

(a) to employ and train stipendiary stewards and racing investigators to perform and exercise the functions, duties, and powers in each code’s racing rules:

204 The functions of Stipendiary Stewards and Investigators are to:
(a) maintain the integrity of Races and racing;
(b) regulate and oversee all Race day matters and all matters related to Races and racing;
(c) investigate potential breaches of the Rules;
(d) assist in relation to licensing matters; and
(e) generally, to do all things necessary so that Races and racing are conducted efficiently and with
integrity and in accordance with these Rules

 

Are they totally impartial??? Or do they have their "friends" as well like the Cody Cole and Sam Weatherly situations??? Can they be totally independent, and not influenced???

[Truly Vain]

Good question about being independent. I think when the RIU was set up back in 2010/11 besides the obvious cost savings, ( which has now turned into a cost blowout) the other factor was an independent integrity organization that oversaw the racing industry without fear or favour. I think that continued into the RIB when deputy Police commissioner Mike Clement took over, however once he left and they bought in the Guy from Queensland who had no experience or background in Integrity, togeather with putting a board togeather with a Chair who was a Wellington bureaucrat and a couple of sports Lawyers, then the RIB did a pivot to becoming a mouthpiece for the codes, they got rid of most of the racecourse investigators and then the 2 they had kept to cover the whole country did not even go to the races, they were basically replaced by two lawyers based in the Wellington office the senior one being an ex IRD prosecutor i believe. Now why was all this done, I assume with DIA being the effective controller of the RIB, this has been done at the behest of the Minister Mr Peter's, and to be blunt he and his backers from the Racing Industry want to go back to the bad old days of nothing to see here, and look how wonderful Racing is, so they now use the very organization that was meant to ensure the integrity of the industry, to ensure that anything that even looks bad for the industry does not see the light of day.

[scooby3051]

Sadly that seems to be the case...look after your mates first and foremost.

[gubellini]

The RIB should be renamed the Racing Image Board. The protected species A listers get the kid gloves treatment while the B listers get a knockout blow.

[scooby3051]

Sad but it seems to be totally true... Not what you know but who..and is that worth $18 million a year to protect your "mates". It should be a level playing field and it clearly is not.

[nomates]

20 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

I’ve been hearing for some time that serious information was provided to the Racing Integrity Board regarding someone within racing. I’m not suggesting anyone is guilty of anything  allegations are simply allegations until they are properly investigated.

What I do find concerning is that, from what I’ve been told, the RIB said they were too busy. If that’s true, it raises some important questions, especially after other recent high profile cases that have made people wonder whether the RIB has the resources, capability and capacity to fully exercise the powers it has been given.This isn’t about targeting individuals. It’s about confidence, faith and integrity within our industry.

Racing is built on trust. Owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff and punters need confidence that when serious concerns are raised, they will be investigated properly and independently.Just as importantly, young people considering a future in racing need to know they are entering an industry that is run properly, operates with integrity and will protect them if issues arise. They should be able to feel safe, supported and confident that there are systems in place to hold people accountable when questions are raised.

The RIB reportedly costs almost $18 million a year. If serious matters cannot be properly investigated, then it is reasonable to ask some fair questions.

 Does the RIB have enough resources to properly investigate serious complaints?

Does it have sufficient powers?

If it does, are those powers being fully used?I’m not making accusations. I’m simply asking whether enough is being done, and if not, why not. The industry deserves confidence in its leadership, confidence in its integrity, and confidence that everyone involved is being properly protected fairly and evenly.

This is interesting , I have heard a couple of whispers over the last few weeks , one a friend in Hamilton and the other in Auckland . Nothing specific but apparently quite serious , although one friend mentioned a name which I found hard to believe , but one thing I have learnt in racing is half the rumours are bullshit but the other half have legs . I have talked to both again and both seem to think whatever it was has legs , one in fact says he has heard that something might still be happening , who knows .

The disconcerting part for me is if the RIB have shelved a serious complaint because they were too busy . It certainly raises serious Integrity issues within it's own body if that is true .

The thing I look at for some credence to this is the bullshit that went on around the Colgan/Weatherly and Cole cases , along with the conflict of interest from Mr Warwick , which apparently didn't concern anyone within the RIB . It certainly seemed from the outside that favours were given , perhaps if there had been more transparency around all of this there might not have been such a whiff about it .

As you say the industry relies on such things as trust and confidence that the right thing will be done , but what I will say is that those have pretty much been abused for decades and the main reason we see such a dearth of youngsters entering the industry , I know of many things that have been quietly swept to the side , racial abuse , sexual abuse , physical abuse , financial abuse and very little has been done . In the instances where I seen or heard it first hand something was always done by myself , got myself offside with people but they were in the wrong so what could they do . If I repeated some of it some wouldn't believe me .

I know that whilst I have very little involvement in the industry now I would have very little confidence in the RIB if I was now . They seemed to have evolved into a self fulfilling power unto themselves .

[BUCKY]

6 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

I do not think the police can overrule the RIB and that the police will tell you its a RIB matter if I am not mistaken.

If a complaint under the Crimes Act was lodged with Police and they investigated and ended up charging an industry participant...the RIB would come a distant second. 

I may have misunderstood you Scooby but the cops outweigh the RIB from maidens to Group 1.

[Ranger]

18 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

Police?

Would suggest the Ombudsman, but the current one is John Allen.

[Leggy]

27 minutes ago, Ranger said:

Would suggest the Ombudsman, but the current one is John Allen.

Don't think so. The RIB is not a government agency so I doubt subject to the likes of the ombudsman or OIA.

 

[nomates]

45 minutes ago, BUCKY said:

If a complaint under the Crimes Act was lodged with Police and they investigated and ended up charging an industry participant...the RIB would come a distant second. 

I may have misunderstood you Scooby but the cops outweigh the RIB from maidens to Group 1.

Haha the police , they're a waste of fucking time , pussy foot around with gang patches , but I'm still waiting to hear or see a cop from when we got burgled 3 1/2 years ago .

Had to do everything online .

Got a call from a forensic guy 3 days after the event asking if we had not touch doors etc that had helped gain entry , I said we had just gone about our business because we hadn't heard anything , he said "oh well nothing I can do now' and hung up .

Better off taking a complaint to the girl guides .

[Shad]

9 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

Are they totally impartial??? Or do they have their "friends" as well like the Cody Cole and Sam Weatherly situations??? Can they be totally independent, and not influenced???

Yes not the first time the integrity of the integrity unit has been call into question on this site, guess many will make their own judgements, the more you read the more convinced you get.

[Gruff]

30 minutes ago, Shad said:

Yes not the first time the integrity of the integrity unit has been call into question on this site, guess many will make their own judgements, the more you read the more convinced you get.

Ive documented their 'mistakes' on here using their very on reports make your own judgements?  Sima was Perfect

[coro fan]

To answer the question - are they worth the cost?

No, if they aren’t going to do their job then they may as well not be there.

 

 

[nomates]

1 hour ago, coro fan said:

To answer the question - are they worth the cost?

No, if they aren’t going to do their job then they may as well not be there.

 

 

The problem as I see it is they seem to be selective in what or who they may choose to look into .

[scooby3051]

1 hour ago, coro fan said:

To answer the question - are they worth the cost?

No, if they aren’t going to do their job then they may as well not be there.

 

 

The problem I see is was it because they were genuinely to busy or was it because of who it involved they used that as an excuse...that is what worries me the most.If thats the case then 50c is too much to pay for them.

[Truly Vain]

Interesting Leggy that the RIB is not a Government agency, however it is a crown enitiy, with many crown entities subject to OIA, but it seems RIB is not, rather strange considering that TAB is subject to OIA and the RIB is controlled by DIA, nothing like not wanting to be transparent to really show an integrity organization true colour's 

[Leggy]

As I understand it, it's not a crown entity. It's a statutory industry regulator, not  a listed organisation in the OIA / Ombudsmen Act schedules.

[Leggy]

7 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

The problem I see is was it because they were genuinely to busy or was it because of who it involved they used that as an excuse...that is what worries me the most.If thats the case then 50c is too much to pay for them.

You'd think if they were genuinely too busy they would say they were right now but that they'd look into it in the next week or two, not just dismiss it.