The Court of Appeal held that RNSW's power under s 14(2)(g) of the Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 (NSW) to appoint an administrator to conduct the affairs of a race club was validly exercised in respect of the ATC, where RNSW's concerns about the ATC's corporate governance and financial viability bore upon the ATC's ability to promote, conduct or control race meetings. The definition of 'horse racing' in s 3(1) identifies the character of racing regulated under the TRA rather than delineating a closed universe of permissible regulatory activities, and corporate governance and financial performance of a race club may fall within that definition where they impact the club's ability to function as a race club. The Court also held that the appointment of an administrator under State legislation was not inconsistent with the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) under s 109 of the Constitution, and was not impliedly repealed by the Merger Act 2010 (NSW), though the Court expressly confined its decision to the specific factual context and declined to delineate the precise metes and bounds of the s 14(2)(g) power in other cases.
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