Field of dreams: Racing Victoria has time to unlock Oaklands potential
A changed Melbourne racing infrastructure landscape, since RV paid $25.3m in late 2022 for the green wedge-zoned land, has afforded the regulator options.
The 400-hectare site, close to Melbourne Airport, was bought to potentially build an equine super-centre, including racecourse and training complex.
The future of Sandown Racecourse was uncertain at the time, while a second track at Caulfield was yet to be developed.
The Valley redevelopment is also set to start this year.
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The green field, bound by Oaklands, Craigieburn and Mickleham roads, is three times the size of Flemington Racecourse precinct and six-times Rosehill Gardens in Sydney.
Residential estates and developments have crept closer to RV's prized parcel of land, which is also inside a proposed State Government outer ring road project.
RV chief executive Aaron Morrison has sought internal and external expert advice on the North-West Land 'looking for the best option'.
'What is the best and greatest use of that site?' Morrison said.
'Unless there is a very specific reason why that patch of grass would make the best training facility, it may be we're better off holding and looking at our other options.'
Morrison confirmed a new racecourse development at Oaklands was 'unlikely'.
'We're constantly looking at what's the right footprint,' Morrison said.
'Operating footprint from a racing perspective, a training perspective … we now look at it and go 'we don't need another racetrack really?'
'It's unlikely we're going to develop anything for racing … perhaps we may need it for training.
'The most obvious consideration is training and opportunity to build a whole equine ecosystem around it (vet centre, equine industry education).
'Right now, we don't have an absolute pressing need for it.'
Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison. Picture: Reg Ryan / Racing Photos
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Major centres Southside (Cranbourne and Pakenham), Flemington, Ballarat and Mornington currently host the majority of Melbourne racing stables.
Flemington, the only training centre left in the heart of Melbourne following the closure of the Caulfield complex, has lease agreements in place to 2030.
'We're accommodating training across the state pretty well and we're starting to really look at (Oaklands) and say, well, is it the best use of industry funds to spend $100m-$120m developing a greenfield site?' Morrison said.
'Do we need it (new training centre) at the moment? Not, not at the moment.
'While Flemington retains training on their site, we don't have a burning need to go and redevelop (Oaklands) just yet.'
Racing Victoria's Oaklands landholding. Picture: George Sal / Racing Photos
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Morrison said investment in existing training centres could be more beneficial to the industry.
'The good news is that asset has got a lot of value,' Morrison said.
'Certainly worth far more than when we bought it and with any reasonable rezoning it is worth quite a lot more.
'For now … might be its best value to the industry, sitting on an asset worth quite a lot of value.
'We bought it for $25m, right now, undeveloped, it'd be at least double that.
'Maybe more and then depending on rezoning, the potential is a lot more.'
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A future fund nest egg of about $65m and valuable media assets underpin 'the strength of the Victorian industry'.
'We're not here to make profit for profit's sake,' Morrison said.
'Everything we do is to be reinvested back into supporting, sustaining and growing the racing industry and all the participants involved in it.'
Morrison echoed Victoria Racing Club in wanting horse training to continue at Flemington beyond 2030.
'It's great to have a permanent horse presence in the CBD,' Morrison said.
Gilbert Gardiner
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Gilbert Gardiner is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun.
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ABC News
14 minutes ago
- ABC News
Identity of NSW man behind $19m 'ethical' internet scheme horrifies customers
It was pitched as the opposite of the dark web, an "ethical" version of the internet, raising as much as $19 million from backers sold on an Australian man's promise of the "Lightweb". But after 12 years and funds from up to 2,000 "mum and dad" investors from all over the world, the Equilux Lightweb still has not launched. Many customers are now pulling out of the ambitious scheme after learning the man behind it has not been using his legal name, and that he has previously been sanctioned by the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The ABC can reveal that Lightweb's founder — David Stryker — is really David Dayan Sevelle, a NSW man the financial watchdog sued in 2006 for running an unregistered investment scheme that left 70 "unsophisticated" investors out of pocket to the tune of $13 million. The financial watchdog shut down the scheme and imposed permanent bans on Mr Sevelle. ASIC confirmed to the ABC it was now making "preliminary inquiries" into the Lightweb scheme. It comes as Mr Sevelle, currently residing in Thailand, has been holding weekly "meritocratic" training over Zoom, teaching his followers how to behave morally for when the alternative internet launches, while preaching that "transparency is key". Do you know more about this or have a similar story? Email The Lightweb claims to be a superior, safer version of the internet through its requirement that users verify their identity to stamp out paedophiles and other online criminals. "It was going to be a platform that was effectively impervious to corruption," said Sydneysider David Coffey, who was won over by the premise and ended up putting $160,000 into the Lightweb project. But Mr Coffey desperately wanted out as he learned more about the company's founder in 2023. "He [Sevelle] moved to Thailand, which really raised a hell of a lot of eyebrows," he said. "Then we found out about the ASIC stuff and I started to get really uneasy." Mr Sevelle declined to be interviewed by the ABC because: "We are preparing for a Website Launch [sic] and will do press releases accordingly at that time." He did send lengthy responses to questions via email. Those involved in the Lightweb scheme have not been buying shares. They have been pre-purchasing advertising slots, called broadcast certificates, for when the platform goes live. It means the venture is technically not an investment scheme, and therefore does not require a financial services licence. It also does not receive as much scrutiny from regulators. The ABC has obtained one broadcast certificate where Mr Sevelle signed off under the name David Stryker. In his statement to the ABC, Mr Sevelle said he had not lied about his real identity and was simply using a "professional name" the same way actors, writers and influencers did. He said it was a "privacy barrier" to protect "unwanted commercial IP theft attempts" and also because the digital currency industry "can be very dangerous with nefarious and bad actors". "I have never hidden behind this name and still operate my own company and register domain names and trademarks and IP under my name," he said. "I wonder if you were interviewing Marilyn Monroe [if she was alive], P!NK, John Wayne [if he was alive], Nicholas Cage, Emilio Estevez and Katy Perry and many others that you would be accusing them of being deceptive "fake namers" like you did me." An information pack that a sales agency distributed in 2017 promised massive returns on these broadcast certificates, projecting they would sell for between eight and 25 times their original price. The internal document also stated the Lightweb platform would be worth $10 billion when it finally launched. Mr Sevelle told the ABC, "We never promise a fixed rate of return", and said this document was not "authorised marketing content". "When discovered, our management team pulled the document from circulation immediately, and this led to, in part, the triggering of formal dissolution of the sales agency," he said. He went on to say he was confident "we will exceed the 25 per cent product value increase" in the future. The Lightweb program has expanded its offering and announced plans to create its own virtual currency, including one called the StrykerCoin. To date, the platform still does not have an active website or a product and missed its own most recent deadline of a May launch. Mr Sevelle said there had been multiple delays due to "outside influences" such as "limited early development funding", the COVID pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis. He said he expected the platform to launch within 90 days after dealing with a "trademark challenge". The Lightweb project operates under companies registered in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US, including Create2tech Pty Ltd, Stryker Design, StrykerFusion and Stryker Design International. Mr Sevelle's third wife, Noppakao Yingnok, a Thai and Australian citizen, is registered as the sole director of these businesses. When the ABC asked Ms Yingnok questions about the operations of her companies, she said to "talk to David". Mr Sevelle said he shared responsibilities between himself, the leadership team, the consulting team, and his wife in managing the businesses and was a "key decision maker". An internal report from 2023 showed Mr Sevelle was not the director of the Lightweb business but appeared to have been making a sizeable amount of money. A company called Elleves Pty Ltd, which is "Sevelle" spelt backwards, was paid $250,000 in "consulting fees" in 2020 and 2021. Mr Sevelle is listed as the sole director of Elleves. 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Mr Sevelle ran a slew of property companies, trading under the name Mega Money, operating in the Central Coast, Newcastle, Hunter Valley, South Coast and Canberra regions, with the intention of pulling together enough mum-and-dad investors to pay for stamp duty and development approvals on blocks of land, and sell them at a profit to developers. But ASIC froze the Mega Money companies by court order, and eventually they were all forced into liquidation. In an affidavit filed with the Federal Court, the court-appointed liquidator, Justin Walsh of Ernst & Young, said Mr Sevelle spent "significant sums of money" from the company on "personal purposes". Those included an $86,000 antique "sloop" yacht, moored in the Toronto Yacht Club, and also "a large number of cash withdrawals" from ATMs. "Large sums of money" also went into Mr Sevelle and his then-wife's personal house and two investment units. He was not married to Ms Yingnok at that time. Two of these properties were sold before the liquidator could lodge a caveat to protect creditor interests at the site. "The [company] accounts were replete with inconsistent treatment of recurring transactions, unexplained transactions, and fundamental balancing errors," the liquidator added. The "majority" of investors had borrowed against their homes to invest in the scheme, and many had dipped into their superannuation as well, Mr Walsh's report noted. Mr Sevelle was banned permanently through court-ordered enforceable undertakings from providing financial advice, dealing in financial products, and carrying on a financial services business, including through the promotion and operation of any managed investment scheme. Separately, ASIC also permanently banned Mr Sevelle from financial services. "It definitely affected our retirement," said a Mega Money investor from Maitland, near Newcastle. Another couple from the local area, who lost $90,000 from the property scheme, said of Mr Sevelle: "He could probably sell coal to Newcastle [like] ice to Eskimos. We fell into that trap quite easily." Mr Sevelle told the ABC that "there was no impropriety" in the Mega Money collapse and that he was not fined or charged over anything. "ATM withdrawals, antiques, jewellery, any personal purchases made were from post-income tax paid earnings for those personal purchases," he added. As Lightweb customers learned the full extent of Mr Sevelle's past, he released a lengthy statement to explain the situation and his decision to change his name. He claimed ASIC found a "glitch" in the way he ran his property companies where he was treating all his businesses as one, which meant he was over the limit of investment funds and was running an unregistered managed scheme. "I had been treated like a pariah for no reason other than one technical accounting glitch," he wrote. "I apologise I did not disclose this to you at the initial outset of the business recruitment process, but I am sure you will appreciate my position and my actions to best nurture the project. "I do not wish my name to be associated to this project till we are secure, launched and commercially sound. "I hope you can understand this explanation … Transparency is key." He signed off as "David Sevelle AKA David Stryker (professional name)." Despite the explanations, a 2023 company document showed 90 people demanded refunds from the Lightweb scheme. Customers had been promised full refunds, but Mr Coffey, the Sydneysider who put $160,000 into the Lightweb project, alleged the company was "putting up walls everywhere", including placing a limit on how much he would receive monthly. He ended up having to engage lawyers, and it took until the end of last year to get all his money back. "Our client is understandably concerned about the legitimacy of your business and ability to refund his investment pursuant to your agreement with him," the legal letter, addressed to Noppakao Yingnok and David Stryker, read. "Our client has since been advised that you will now be paying the remainder of the refund by way of $10,000 payments over 10 months. "Your company has no standing to set these repayment terms with our client. Your contract with our client provides that a full refund is available upon request." Mr Sevelle told the ABC that, for cashflow reasons, refunds of more than $10,000 could not be paid in a lump sum. "It is not prudent to do so, as we are not a bank," he said. "No-one was ever boxed into staying. No startups or scale-ups have ever refunded pre-launch that we are aware of." Mr Sevelle has previously told his customers on a video call that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has audited the business numerous times due to the number of self-managed super funds in the scheme. The ATO told the ABC it would not comment on specific cases or confirm if an investigation was underway. In a statement, a spokesperson said: "The ATO encourages anyone setting up an SMSF [self-managed super fund] to ensure they understand what is involved in running their own super fund, and that they are ready and able to meet these obligations." The ABC has spoken to multiple people, who did not want to be identified, who said the company's most recent sales rhetoric involved encouraging investors to mortgage their homes to obtain more money. Morgan, 26, from Newcastle, said her father was so taken with the Lightweb idea he was considering retiring early so he could put his long service leave into the scheme. 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Mr Sevelle said in his statement to the ABC that: "The truth is that if they [customers] are no longer in our organisation and they have been refunded what they were entitled to, they of course will not want us to succeed, as our success will then be their failure." "I am sorry for both you and I, that you did not see this as a bigger story of innovation, empowerment, job creation and unlimited opportunities," he said. Mr Sevelle "will dance you around like you're on Dancing with the Stars," said one Lightweb customer who did not want to speak on the record. "He likes to use so much financial technical jargon and acronyms to confuse the hell out of people," they said. Others have described Mr Sevelle as having the "gift of the gab" and went as far as saying it felt like a cult of personality. Mr Sevelle has been holding hours-long "moral" training sessions every week over Zoom for years, where he teaches his followers how to behave like "meritocrats" for when the Lightweb finally launches. Some of these sessions involve movie nights, such as watching The Big Short and Eat the Rich. "There were so many people who drank the Kool-Aid and were calling him the Messiah," said Mr Coffey, the Sydney customer who had taken his money out. "It was constantly reinforced how blessed we were to be in the company at this time of imminent launch … so we had better buy more of the upcoming new investments before it's too late," said another customer, on condition of anonymity. ASIC said it was "aware of concerns related to these entities and is making preliminary inquiries". The financial regulator added: "Speaking generally, super-switching misconduct is an increasing concern for ASIC." 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ABC News
44 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia Boomers defeat South Korea 97–61 in Asian Cup
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News.com.au
44 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Champion jockey Glen Boss pays tribute to semi-retired legendary trainer Lee Freedman
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