A new 10-year government funding agreement for the Territory’s horse racing industry will see the controversial $12 million grant to the Darwin Turf Club essentially forgiven in exchange for less money being awarded to the club over the next 10 years, the Fyles Government announced last night.

The government had been calling on the club to repay the $12 million the Labor Cabinet approved to build the new grandstand in 2019 that was awarded to then-chair Brett Dixon’s company, launching an ICAC investigation, but scrapped that direction yesterday in favour of a new funding arrangement with Thoroughbred Racing NT that will see the peak body awarded more than $200 million of taxpayer funds over the next decade, with a direction to spend a paltry $6 million of that on other race tracks in Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Adelaide River.

The annual payments of $17.9 million to TRNT have been extended from five years to 10 as part of the new deal. The NT Independent revealed in a series of investigative articles last year that TRNT’s spending included undisclosed payments totalling more than $200,000 a year to its board members for “sitting fees”, flights, accomodation and hospitality expenses.

The NT Independent understands the new funding arrangement has angered both the DTC board and TRNT, but because the bodies are reliant on public money to survive, the government does not need either group’s endorsement to enact the new funding agreement.

The Fyles Government statement said the new funding agreement would “support the racing industry across the NT for the next 10 years” and would bring the funding “in line with other NT Government grants”.

It was not immediately clear how the previous grants to TRNT differed from other government grants to sporting organisations.

“In light of this agreement, previous directions to repay a $12 million grant awarded to the Darwin Turf Club for the construction of a grandstand in 2019 will no longer apply,” the statement said.

The $6 million – over 10 years – that the government implied would have gone to the Darwin Turf Club, will instead be used to provide the Alice Springs Turf Club with $150,000 a year for the first four years to upgrade infrastructure, increasing to $400,000 per year for the remaining six years. Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Adelaide River clubs will see their funding increased to the tune of $50,000 per year for the first four years, increasing to $133,000 for the last six years.

“While the overall baseline funding amount remains the same [for TRNT], this new agreement will specifically direct Thoroughbred Racing NT to reduce its payments to the Darwin Turf Club by $6 million over [10] years, and reinvest that amount into infrastructure upgrades at regional turf clubs,” Racing Minister Chansey Paech said in a statement.

“Racing is a major drawcard in our regional areas and improved infrastructure at these tracks will make a huge difference to these clubs and communities.”

It remains unclear whether Thoroughbred Racing NT might also receive “top ups” as the Labor Government awarded them in 2017, that involved a mysterious $3.2 million payment on top of the $17.9 million annual funding that year for unknown reasons, with that year’s budget stating the payment was to “to implement a new five-year funding agreement”.

It is understood the DTC board is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the new funding arrangement today.

TRNT chair – and former Labor racing minister Syd Stirling – is also expected to release a statement on the new funding arrangement later today.

The new 10-year funding pledge is expected to include CPI increases annually.