The racing industry in Western Australia wants the State Government to make a clear decision on the future of the TAB and end more than 18 months of uncertainty.

The key group representing three codes of racing believes almost no progress has been made since the Government first flagged the potential privatisation of the TAB in 2014.

Michael Grant is a prominent racing identity and a member of the Racing Representative Group, a five-member team representing thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing.

If selling the TAB was a 10-step process, Mr Grant said the WA Government and the industry had yet to kick-off.

"I'd say we wouldn't have completed step one," he said.

That first step, according to Mr Grant, is for the Government to establish a clear and properly funded process for engaging with the industry.

The Government first raised the possibility of selling the TAB in 2014, but included in its list of assets for sale in this year's May budget.

Since then it has been consulting with the industry but has run into opposition from both its alliance partner, the Nationals, and its opponents, the Labor Party.

Government yet to 'push the trigger'

While Treasurer Mike Nahan has characterised the proposed sale of the Fremantle Port as complex, Mr Grant believes the sale of the TAB is even more challenging.

He said the Government needed to make a decision.

"At the end of the day, the Government hasn't actually pushed the trigger yet and actually said, we are going to sell," he said.

"They keep talking about we haven't made a decision yet, they're still dancing around the issue.

"What's important for the Government to understand, and we have pushed them on this issue, is that the racing industry is suffering as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the sale of the TAB."

That uncertainty deepened on Monday when Dr Nahan released the Government's mid-year review of the budget.

To pay down spiralling debt, the Treasurer flagged an expanded program of asset sales, but he appeared to cast doubt on whether the sale of the TAB would proceed.

"It is politically contentious. We understand it. And the ability to get it through parliament has to be in question. So we move on," he said on Monday.

Political headwinds too strong: Nahan

The following day, the Treasurer was clearly pessimistic about the prospects of getting the necessary political support for the sale.

"I actually think that we have a commitment to sell the TAB, but I think the political headwinds are too strong," Dr Nahan said.

He said the problem was convincing the industry.

"The key task has always been to convince the industry. The resistance to [the sale of the] TAB doesn't come from the politicians, it comes from sections of the industry," he said.

"So we've had extensive discussions with the industry to convince them that it is in their and our best interest, we're not there yet."

But according to Mr Grant and the Racing Representative Group, consultation means real engagement, not just talk.

And so far, he said, that has not happened.

"We're just still waiting and that's probably been the biggest frustration because we obviously get a lot of questions asked by industry... Where you at? What's happening with the TAB? And I'd just like to be able to give them more," he said.

Mr Grant said some Government politicians, like Racing and Gaming Minister Colin Holt, had been speaking with racing industry participants in rural and regional areas.

But he said that was not the level of engagement required to develop a viable plan to privatise the TAB in a way that secured a good price for the Government, and a stable, sustainable future for the industry.

"I think if the Government was focused on engaging with the industry and making the industry comfortable and giving industry the assurances that it needs, I think the politics would take care of itself."

WA horse racing industry representatives held an emergency meeting in May 2014 over concerns the TAB would be sold. ( ABC News: Emily Piesse )

The Racing Representative Group has already spent $200,000 funding the Gunston Report, a comprehensive assessment of the state of the industry and the issues that would need to be addressed for privatisation to be viable for the sector.

In October, it submitted to Government a detailed proposal for an engagement process, including a substantial request for funding to allow the industry to retain expert commercial and legal advice to prepare for the sale.

Mr Grant said the funding request, for an unspecified sum, was reasonable given the Government has initiated the privatisation and will be the principal beneficiary.

He believes the expert advice on a complex transaction will help maximise the return to Government and secure the industry's future.

"The cost associated with the funding will add value to the licence. There's no question about that," he said.

So far, the industry has yet to receive a response.

Mr Grant urged the Government to move on the issue quickly.

"We're just hopeful that the New Year will bring a positive engagement with the Government," he said.

Labor remains opposed to TAB sale

State Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said the fresh uncertainty over the TAB was exacerbating the industry's concerns about its future.

Labor opposes the sale of the TAB, and believes the Government's move to sell it is another indicator of its reckless financial management.

"The Government has said they're going to sell the TAB, they're not going to sell the TAB, they might sell the TAB," Mr McGowan said.

"They have no financial plan and no financial credibility and this is another example of it."