Peter V’landys accuses Mark Latham of smear campaign during Rosehill racecourse probe

Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys has accused upper house MP Mark Latham of launching an unsubstantiated “smear campaign” over allegations of workplace bullying and favouritism launched at Mr V’landys. Appearing at a probe on the proposal to redevelop Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, Mr V’landys and Mr Latham repeatedly came to verbal blows during the 75-minute hearing. The chaotic clash comes after Mr Latham launched a personal attack on Mr V’landys in parliament, where he called on the industry heavyweight to resign and accused him of creating a “toxic workplace plagued by intimidation, favouritism, electronic surveillance and constant decision-making and interference by the CEO”. During Friday’s hearing, Mr V’landys accused Mr Latham of making unsubstantiated claims, with “absolutely zero evidence”. “Mr Latham, you can smear me all your life, but there’s absolutely zero credibility to what you’re saying,” Mr V’landys said. Mr V’landys also launched a furious spray to the “cheats and liars” in the racing industry who he said made false submissions to the select committee. “I should say from the outset that Racing NSW as a regulator, one of our main roles is to get rid of the cheats and the undesirables, especially the ones that are cruel to horses,” he said. “I’m aware that some of them are using this inquiry to undermine racing in NSW.” Under questioning from Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, Mr V’landys also vehemently denied sexual harassment complaints had been made against him and said he had never entered into a private settlement agreement with a former employee. “I’ve never had a complaint, never, not once, so to do a settlement disclosure agreement is complete rubbish,” he said. “All of this is a smear campaign with absolute zero evidence. There’s no evidence that I’ve ever signed a disclosure agreement of any person and I take great offence to it. “I have three young children and they’re going to hear from this inquiry that I’ve done this … when I haven’t.” Answering specific questions about the proposed plan for the Australian Turf Club to sell Rosehill Gardens for $5bn, Mr V’landys said Racing NSW had no involvement in the proposal. “When I found out about (the proposed Rosehill sale), I was actually in Washington. Unless it was Joe Biden’s idea, it certainly wasn’t mine,” he said. Earlier on Friday, NSW Premier Chris Minns denounced Mr Latham’s “disgraceful” attacks made under parliamentary privilege. “Mark Latham is currently being sued for defamation for things he said outside of parliament, so he’s taken his attacks inside parliament, where he can’t be sued,” he said. “It is the definition of the ‘Coward’s Castle’.” Rosehill redevelopment ‘very opposed’ by members The proposal to redevelop Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse into a metro site, entertainment precinct and 25,000 home mini city has been thrown into jeopardy, with the plan unpopular among members and questions raised over its touted $5bn sale price. The sale of the site, which is owned by the Australian Turf Club (ATC), is at stage 2 of the unbinding unsolicited proposals process and still faces a vote from ATC members. The organisation’s vice chair Timothy Hale said “the majority are very much opposed to the potential sale”. “A number of them say ‘I haven’t got any detail, I have no information to make a judgment’, but I would think a substantial majority of members will vote against this proposal, if things stay as they are.” The $5bn evaluation for the site has also been questioned. ATC chairman Peter McGauran said the club had obtained the written valuation through property consultants MostynCopper, adding the club had already spent about $320,000 on the proposal. Asked if he could table the valuation report, Mr McGauran said he would first obtain legal advice due to “commercial confidence”. “The figure has been worked through by the property consultants who engage other consultants who are experts in this field,” he said. Questions were also raised over why the ATC’s head of membership and corporate affairs Steve McMahon had previously told a members’ consultation meeting in July the land would have been worth about $2bn “if it went on the market today”. While Mr McMahon clarified the land would be worth “$5bn or even more” over time, Mr Latham said it was proof the $5bn figure was “not credible”. Mr McGauran dashed the claims and said the figure didn’t factor in the creation of a new metro station. “The best advice we’ve had is that if you wanted to sell Rosehill Gardens as is, (with) no rezoning (to include a metro station is that it would get) $1.6bn. Of course that’s a paltry return for the loss of a premium racetrack,” he said. “We wouldn’t even let that bid through the door.” However, in a follow up session, Mr Hale confirmed the board had “never” been provided with the $5bn evaluation, and said senior members had only seen the $1.6bn figure. He also agreed with Upper House MP Mark Latham’s assertion that he had “no faith” in the $5bn figure. “In my professional capacity, I understand valuation and I have a great deal of difficulty in accepting and I have never accepted that figure of $5 billion (for) what I’m assuming is for 25,000 home sites.” Australian Turf Club director Caroline Searcy added that it was “surprising” the board was only told about the proposed redevelopment after the plan had been touted to the state government, saying it was “not the best governance”. Mr McGauran said there were a number of steps until the plan was fully realised and double downed that it would be contingent on a vote by ATC members set to take place either later this year or in the “first quarter of next year”. “This stage 2 is non-binding and will assist us to determine whether to proceed to negotiating binding agreements with government at stage 3. If it doesn’t stack up, then we won’t proceed beyond stage 2,” he said. “If we don’t negotiate what we need from the government in stage 3, we won’t proceed. In June, the project progressed to stage 2 of the unbinding unsolicited proposals process, which means it will go through “further development and progression.” The update found the racing group was “uniquely positioned to deliver a significant housing outcome” and “achieve a value for money outcome which will be confirmed through quantitative due diligence in stage 2”. Mr V’landys previously said Racing NSW would have the final say as to whether the proposal goes ahead and stressed it had “got to be in the best interests of the thoroughbred racing industry”. “The majority of revenue the ATC gets comes from the NSW racing industry, not from its members,” he told reporters in May. “We licence the club, and we’re the regulator, so there would have to be some agreement.” Speaking to reporters ahead of the inquiry, Mr Minns refused to predict whether the proposal would go ahead. “We’ve really made it clear from the very beginning that this is a decision for ATC members. We don’t own the land, the land’s owned by the members of the racecourse, and there’s no compulsory acquisition,” he said “But we’d be crazy just to walk away from a proposal that could see more housing for young people on a brand new public transport line for Sydney.”