Tasmanian integrity commissioner accused of $300,000 offer to greyhound trainer

Carroll denied the allegations when contacted on Friday and said he stood by his actions, but declined to comment further. He had previously denied them at a parliamentary hearing this month.

Appointed Tasmania's first racing integrity commissioner in December 2024 after serving as head of integrity and security at Cricket Australia, Carroll holds "extensive powers to set integrity and animal welfare standards and comprehensive investigatory functions across all three codes of racing in Tasmania". The claims come as the Tasmanian government has committed to ending greyhound racing in the state by June 30, 2029, a ban Bill that is yet to be passed and that Labor opposes.

Winter told parliament that according to Bullock's sworn declaration, Carroll approached him on multiple occasions regarding the voluntary exit scheme, said he had "hundreds of thousands of dollars" available for him to leave the industry, referred to a cheque beginning with a "three", and ultimately indicated that $300,000 was all he was prepared to offer. "Mr Bullock never submitted an expression of interest. He says he never sought an exit package," Winter said.

Bullock has won Tasmania's greyhound training premiership 17 times. His dogs started in 1725 races last year, he trained 161 winners and won $650,628 in prizemoney. In 2023, before Carroll's tenure, he was banned for life by the Tasmanian Office of Racing Integrity on a racing charge of "possessing an animal part capable of being used as bait, quarry or a lure", after investigators found a pademelon tail on his property. Bullock denied the charge, the ban was overturned by the Tasmanian Racing Appeal Board, and he declined to comment on Friday.

"If those allegations are correct, they raise serious questions," Winter told parliament. He argued the commissioner's position was not created to negotiate payments for participants to leave the industry, and that "even the perception of conflicts of interest is a serious risk to public confidence". Winter also questioned why Carroll, an "independent statutory officer", had appeared alongside government ministers in media releases promoting greyhound policy.

At a greyhound transition committee hearing on October 9, Winter said Carroll was “forced to concede” that the deed governing the exit scheme was still being drafted, there was no finalised funding pool, and participants did not necessarily need to submit an expression of interest to be considered. Winter told parliament the allegations against Carroll were “deeply concerning” and that the matters warranted further explanation, saying it was “about process, it's about governance, and it's about whether legal power has been exercised in a matter consistent with the legislation”.