THEIR property is worthless.
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And their life’s passion has been torn to shreds.
Put simply, Gary and Eileen Robertson feel betrayed.
First by the federal government, as residents of the Williamtown red zone.
Then the state government, which will shut down greyhound racing.
“We’ve always had dogs and it was going to be our retirement plan,” Mr Robertson said.
“When I first retired I was going to tidy the place up and move to Red Rock and race at Taree. Then the contamination hit.”
As residents of Cabbage Tree Road they live at the back of the RAAF base from which fire fighting foam has flowed carrying contaminants PFOS and PFOA. The couple lost three pups, aged six to nine months, under mysterious circumstances after swimming on the property last year. While there’s no hard evidence they have no doubt what is to blame.
“We didn’t realise at the time the RAAF was de-watering,” Mr Robertson said.
“What else could it be?”
Such losses hit the couple hard. They tend to a memorial garden where numerous dogs that died of old age now rest. They’ve even had some success re-homing retired racers through classified ads.
Mrs Robertson was furious that animal activists had “got their way”.
“They’ve been in [Premier] Mike Baird’s ear, he’s bowed to the Greens,” she said.
“And he’s got an agenda, he wants to sell Yagoona [track] for the land.”
The Robertsons have been successful breeders and racers over the years.
Their prized bitch Rachael Robbo won 16 from 35 starts. In four of those wins she set top 10 times for the year. She’s now living out her days at Willamtown.
Go Robbo Go, another family favourite, also won the opening race at The Gardens in 2014 when the Wallsend track started up.
The Robertsons recently moved into training and have earned a modest income.
And they weren’t fazed when the industry stopped using rabbit carcasses for lures.
“We said ‘OK, we can do this’, I’ve been using squeakers for 30 years anyway,” Mr Roberston said.
“We thought, ‘great, we’re on the right track’.
“Anyone live baiting is an idiot.”
Mr Baird’s decision to shutdown the industry based on the McHugh report means the couple will have to go onto a pension.
“I really hope that we can beat this,” Mr Robertson said.
“After the contamination, now this, we’ve got nowhere to go.”
The couple’s daughters both work in the industry at Maitland.
“One’s moving to Queensland and the other’s going to Victoria. That’s my family, shattered... gone,” Mrs Robertson said.
The Robertsons are among a list of breeders and trainers in Port Stephens who wish to challenge the state government’s decision.
“I haven’t had any animal activists contact my office but people with greyhounds have,” Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said.
