endless media coverage drives gambling addiction

In the almost ten years since I wrote about why you should passionately hate the Melbourne Cup and the horse racing industry in general, none of the problems I described then have gone away. The racing industry is still killing its workers – ten jockeys have died since 2014. Horse racing continues to slaughter horses – two died in the Melbourne Cup immediately after I wrote the original piece, another four have since died in the cups, and the number of horses killed on race tracks nationally in 2022-2023 reached a new record of 168.

The industry continues to be plagued by organized crime and money laundering – likely even more so now that casinos have been forced to rein in their money laundering practices. Guardian Australia revealed last month that anti-money laundering laws do not cover investments in racehorses, a key area of ​​money laundering by criminals. Even media advocates for the industry have warned that racing must take urgent steps to prevent organized crime from expanding its role in it.

And despite industry claims about how popular racing is, it still relies on huge handouts from state governments, which give tens of millions of dollars to the industry based on alleged, but never proven, benefits to tourism.