General News
7 September, 2025
Roy's Round Up - September 7, 2025
Comment from Member for Barwon, Roy Butler
Banning Filming and Posting of Accident Scenes
A couple of weeks ago we heard about an incident where a person filmed the scene of a fatal road accident and posted the video online. Although the video was later taken down, it caused the family some distress. There were also no repercussions for the person who posted it, which does nothing to deter anyone in the future.
There have been similar incidents in the past and while we all recognise how abhorrent such an act is, the distress it causes families and loved ones, the invasion of privacy and the potential for interfering with police investigations, without any specific laws against such an act, it is likely to continue to happen.
I have therefore written to the NSW Attorney General, Michael Daley, about the issue and I plan to have a meeting with him to discuss whether there needs to be a change in the laws around filming at the scene of a fatal accident.
Petition to allow Country Race Clubs to Appeal Race Cancellations
Country races are very different to big city events. While a race meeting in a city might draw big crowds, those crowds are only a small percentage of the overall population of the cities where they are held. But in the bush almost everyone in town turns out for a race meeting (and they are joined by hundreds or thousands more from nearby towns or tourists from far away). That is because country race events are far more central to the social, cultural and economic life of regional towns.
Some bush racing clubs - and often the entire town - plan all year for the event and cancellations at the eleventh hour by racing stewards often mean that a lot of time, planning, food and money is wasted.
Earlier this month, at a pre-dawn meeting, the Louth Races were called off. Despite a forecast of sunshine, the racing steward refused to reassess the track later that morning. By the time the races were scheduled to start, the track had dried out, but the decision had already been made. The community ended up losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct costs and lost revenue from the thousands of visitors who come for the races.
There was a string of cancelled country races in 2023. But the local race committees were given little or no opportunity to make tracks safe in the leadup to the events. Following my discussions with Racing NSW, racing stewards began working more closely with organisers to allow races to proceed when possible. It’s a shame the Louth Races didn’t receive the same consideration.
I urge you to sign a petition to call on the NSW Government to make it possible for country race clubs to appeal any cancellation decisions by Racing NSW and to allow for them to be compensated when an event is cancelled without good reason. The primary consideration is the safety of the jockeys and the horses, but the stewards need to be called to account for the decisions they make regarding the condition of the track, given the impact it can have on a community.
To sign the petition go to my website.
Western Air Services subsidy extension
I am pleased to report that an extension has been granted for the subsidy for air services to western NSW. The subsidies will now continue until November 2026.
This money will allow Air Pelican to operate six return flights a week between Sydney and Cobar, as well as allowing Air Link to fly eight return routes to Bourke, Walgett, and Lightning Ridge.
The importance of air travel in this region can’t be overstated; it helps to bridge the vast distances between towns in the west of the state. I want to thank the minister for western NSW, Tara Moriarty, for understanding what a vital role these services play in the region.
Of course, while I welcome this news, the ideal situation would be for more work to be done to ensure that these services can stand on their own without the need for government assistance, but that subsidies should also be extended to other regional routes.
This is not about luxury travel, it is about seeing that people in isolated areas can make it to important things such as medical services and also to allow public servants and key workers who have taken up posts in regional areas to visit family and friends, which would help attract more of these people out west.
