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October 2026 marks ten years since the NSW Government reversed its decision to end greyhound racing.
On 11 October 2016, the Liberal-National Coalition Government announced it would reverse its recently legislated ban, a reversal supported by the Labor Opposition, and instead gave the industry “one final chance” to reform. In August 2016, Chris Minns, now Premier, had stated that if non-compliance continued across the industry after two years, “it should be closed down.”
That chance has now been tested for more than a decade, and it has failed.
Our MP Emma Hurst and the Animal Justice Party NSW are proud to support the Ten Years On Open Letter to Premier Chris Minns and the NSW Parliament, alongside more than 30 organisations and elected representatives calling for an end to greyhound racing in NSW.
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📄 Download and Read the Open Letter (PDF)
Take action
The Animal Justice Party NSW is sharing this campaign across our platforms, including this blog post and our email action. If you live in NSW, you can send a pre-filled message to your local MP asking them to support the Open Letter.
📧 Email your MP now
A decade of harm
Since July 2017, when a phase-out of greyhound racing in NSW was originally scheduled to take effect
- more than 600 greyhounds have died on NSW tracks
- more than 25,000 have been injured
- 5,796 rule breaches have been recorded, including offences involving drugging and animal cruelty
- $207 million in taxpayer funding has propped up the industry*
The industry has had every chance to reform. Five separate reviews have investigated its regulatory framework since 2016. The 2025 Drake Inquiry made 65 recommendations after finding significant governance and operational failures, and many key recommendations remain unimplemented, including a cap on breeding and an end to exporting retired dogs overseas.
Wentworth Park should be the beginning of the end
On 16 October, the Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase will be the final racing and gambling meeting at Sydney’s Wentworth Park, and the Crown land will be returned to the community as public open space.
The NSW Government has also committed $10 million in public funding to move greyhound racing from Wentworth Park to other tracks. Greyhound Racing NSW called this funding “meagre” and asked for better compensation.
Other jurisdictions are moving on. The ACT outlawed greyhound racing in 2018, and Tasmania has committed to stop public funding of greyhound racing by 2029. New Zealand ended commercial greyhound racing on 1 August 2026. Wales and Scotland have both legislated bans, and greyhound racing is now banned in 44 US states. NSW is being left behind.
What the Open Letter calls for
The Open Letter calls on the NSW Parliament to
- commit to a planned phase-out of greyhound racing in New South Wales
- end further public funding of the greyhound racing industry
*Sources: Federal Parliamentary Library, GWIC Mortality Data, GWIC Quarterly Injury Reports
Signatories
Political representatives
Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW MLC
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens
Alex Greenwich MP, Independent Member for Sydney
Emma Hurst MLC, Animal Justice Party
Jacqui Scruby MP, Independent Member for Pittwater
Kobi Shetty, Greens NSW Member for Balmain
Animal welfare and advocacy organisations
Animal Justice Party NSW
Animal Liberation
Animal Rights Activism Sydney
Animals Australia
Australian Alliance for Animals
City of Sydney
Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds
Companion Animal Network Australia
FOUR PAWS
Friends of the Hound
GREY2K USA Worldwide
Greens NSW
Greyhound Community Action Group
Hounds in Homes
Humane World for Animals
Northern Sydney Rescue Greyhound Group
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Sentient
Sydney Animal Save
Sydney Dogs & Cats Home
Vegan Action Global
Voiceless
World Animal Protection
Young Animal Justice Party NSW
Take action
The Animal Justice Party NSW is sharing this campaign across our platforms, including this blog post and our email action. If you live in NSW, you can send a pre-filled message to your local MP asking them to support the Open Letter.
📧 Email your MP now
It takes less than a minute, and every message helps show the NSW Parliament that people across NSW are ready for change.
📢 Join us at Wentworth Park on Friday 16 October.
Stand with us to demand an end to the commercial greyhound industry at the last ever Million Dollar Chase event at the Wentworth Park death track!
Rally with us to make sure GRNSW, GWIC, the gambling companies and every supporter of this disgraceful industry knows that we will not be silent, and we will not rest until this industry is shut down once and for all.
When: Friday 16 October 14 2026 at 5pm
Where: Millard Reserve, Wentworth Park
Worldwide, we are seeing track after track close, and more and more countries finally legislating a ban.
