I'm with you becareful,

There are a lot of inefficiencies within the racing set-up but you must not forget the very nature of the Australian psyche. As we were colonising this great land and towns began to be established, the first two structures built were a pub and a racecourse. Accordingly, the day out at the races with the family became a very important cornerstone of early settler lifestyle and socialising. This has continued to this day(look at the number of picnic race meetings).
However, in the harsh economic climate of today the need for rationalisation has never become more evident as costs and overheads rise and make the viability of a lot of the current tracks seem forlorn.
While I love the atmosphere of going to the smaller racing venues some may have to close to maintain the viability of racing overall and hopefully increase returns to we suffering punters burdened with exhorbitant Govt deductions from the pay-out pool.
It seems more likely everyday that the "Green monolith" ie. NSW TAB, will take-over the QldTAB, which, I must admit may not be a bad thing, thereby increasing the pool and hopefully larger divs flowing down to punters.
What we need is the amalgamation of all mainland TAB's to provide a true national betting pool where you can place a decent bet without adversely affecting pay-outs too dramatically.
If this was so, I believe the Govt would then consider the entry of such competitors as Betfair as they would feel less threatened.

Cheers.