AFL 2023: Alastair Clarkson unhappy with Hawthorn racism investigation leaks
Alastair Clarkson has claimed leaks from the Hawthorn racism probe broke a confidentiality agreement and blasted the club he coached to four premierships as “just shameful”.
AFL
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Alastair Clarkson has launched a scathing attack on the credibility of the Hawthorn racism investigation and labelled his old club “shameful” as his fury at the state of the seven-month probe publicly erupted on Thursday.
In an extraordinary outburst Clarkson called for the club where he won four premierships to be investigated for the manner in which it had botched the cultural safety report into First Nations players.
The North Melbourne coach said he was frustrated at being denied a chance to present his version of events to the investigators over the previous eight months, and that Hawthorn should be investigated for its handling of the issue.
It comes the day after the chair of the independent panel, Bernard Quinn KC, released a stunning mid-investigation statement detailing why the process had stalled so badly.
The AFL refused to comment about Clarkson’s comments on Thursday night and was not involved in Quinn’s decision to release the contentious statement.
Quinn said Clarkson, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan and former Hawthorn player development manager Jason Burt were refusing to be interviewed until documents detailing the allegations were handed over to them.
Quinn said the First Nations families involved in the investigation did not want certain documents handed on due to fears sensitive personal information would be passed on, which had delayed the seven-month inquiry.
Clarkson underlined his broken relationship with Hawthorn and criticised Quinn for going public when all parties were subject to nondisclosure agreements.
“Why wouldn’t it (damage my trust in the investigation) when the guy who’s heading up the actual process actually violates the very confidentiality that he said we should all abide by, how can we trust that process is going to be fair, and it hasn’t been for the whole eight months,” Clarkson said.
“It’s just extraordinary that we waited eight months … the game is the victim of this, the game is shamed. Obviously myself, Fages, Jase and our families have been shamed … the Indigenous and First Nations families, they’ve been shamed.
“And there’s one particular party out there that was the catalyst for all this, that haven’t been investigated at all -— their governance and conduct in this whole thing, the Hawthorn Football Club, just shameful.
“Let’s do an investigation on them and their practices and see how they go.
“All these events … just makes it a circus, someone just needs to cut through it all and take ownership of the whole process, whether that’s from within the Hawthorn Football Club or the AFL.”
Clarkson urged the league to investigate Hawthorn specifically over Hawthorn’s “governance and conduct” in their commissioning and execution of the report that uncovered the allegations by First Nations players.
But the terms of reference for the AFL’s independent inquiry are already doing just that.
As part of the matters for investigation, the fifth topic is: “Whether the ‘Cultural Safety Review’ commissioned by HFC and undertaken by Mr Philip Egan of Binmada Pty Ltd (Binmada Report) was an appropriate mechanism and/or adopted appropriate procedures for the matters Mr Egan was engaged to review and/or ultimately investigated.”
Hawthorn is also being investigated over “whether any Inappropriate Conduct identified was known and countenanced (and if so to what extent) by any and who of the senior management and/or Board of HFC.”
The Hawks could lose draft picks or be fined heavily if the investigation finds wrongdoing, but with a May 23 mediation being proposed, the future of that independent investigation — and the public release of its report — is up in the air.
Hawthorn responded to Clarkson’s outburst on Thursday and said the process had dragged on in a manner that had been “frustrating” for all involved.
“Hawthorn continues to co-operate fully with the AFL and the independent panel while the investigation continues,” a Hawthorn spokesperson said.
“We completely understand that this process, and the speed at which it has been conducted, has been frustrating for everyone involved.
“We, like everyone, want to see this matter resolved fairly and quickly in the best interests of all. At every step of this process the club has complied with our obligations under AFL integrity rules and confidentiality arrangements.”
Clarkson appeared to challenge Quinn’s statement that it was the ex-Hawthorn staffers who were delaying their interviews for the independent report.
“We’re just waiting around like we have for the last eight months to see where it goes next … bit intriguing that the guy who actually establishes the protocol around confidentiality actually breaches it yesterday,” Clarkson said.
“We’re just waiting for the opportunity and the platform to be able to tell our side of the story, and when we get that, Fages, myself and Jase (Burt) right from the get go have been willing to co-operate and be involved in this investigation, but eight months later we still haven’t heard when or how it’s all going to unfold.
“What’s the point arguing about it … the damage is done and the reputations have been scarred, and we’ve got to somehow just claw our reputations back through this whole process, and all we want is a fair platform to be able to do that.
“The procedural fairness offered to myself, Fages and Jason has been next to zero, and that’s particularly frustrating.”
SECRET DOCUMENTS IMPASSE STALLS HAWK INVESTIGATION
Glenn McFarlane
The independent Hawthorn racism investigation has stalled with the First Nations participants unwilling to share critical documents with the three former Hawthorn officials at the centre of the allegations.
Almost eight months after the AFL appointed an independent panel to investigate claims of “historic inappropriate conduct” at Hawthorn, the panel’s chair – Bernard Quinn KC – has released an extraordinary statement saying the probe had reached an impasse with meditation now the priority in a bid to break the ongoing deadlock.
A possible mediation session could take place in Adelaide on May 23, three days after Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan complete their round 10 matches with North Melbourne and Brisbane respectively.
Clarkson, Fagan and former Hawks player welfare manager Jason Burt have asked to see documents from Hawthorn and have told the independent panel they will not agree to be interviewed until they receive the information they have requested.
Quinn said the four-man panel had been told by the First Nations ex-players and partners they would not hand over documents containing “personal, sensitive or private information” to Clarkson, Fagan and Burt, who have denied all allegations levelled at them.
“Those participants (the First Nations ex-players and partners) have been asked to identify documents which they object to providing to other participants because they contain personal, sensitive or private information protected from disclosure by relevant privacy and related laws,” Quinn said.
“The panel was recently informed by these participants that they do not agree to the provision of any of these documents to any other participants prior to mediation.
“This objection was made on the basis that the production of documents at this time prejudices the prospects of successful mediation.
“Documents provided to the panel which are not subject to privacy concerns have been provided to relevant participants.”
In the statement released on Wednesday night, Quinn also revealed:
• Hawthorn had 37,000 potentially relevant documents and would “finalise its document production exercise within the next couple of days”, while more than 20 statements of evidence have been collected and “multiple” interviews have taken place
• The panel has appointed barrister Kate Eastman SC and former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda as co-mediators, who will now “address directly with the relevant participants”
• The panel conceded it was as frustrated by the delays as other stakeholders
• The panel had urged participants to approach the proposed mediation “with an open mind, with cultural sensitivity and in the spirit of conciliation”, saying it hopes it can “lead to a resolution of issues between participants”
• Stressed any mediated resolution “would not pause the investigation’s important work and should not affect the participants’ engagement with the investigation’s procedural steps.”
He said the panel would continue to engage with all the participants in order to try and complete the document production process so that “evidence responsive to the allegations can be produced and all participants interviewed”.
“To date, significant progress has been made, although not always at the pace that we, or the various stakeholders, would prefer. At all times, the panel has been implementing procedures for the orderly production of evidence by participants, attempting to take a consultative approach in the absence of any powers to set and enforce deadlines,” he said.
Quinn detailed: “The panel notes that former HFC coaches participating in the investigation sought to be provided with relevant documents before they could meaningfully engage with the investigation.”
“The panel agreed to that request and, in consultation with all participants, requested the production of 78 categories of documents from HFC in early 2023, requiring the club to review some 37,000 documents.
“The panel understands that HFC will have finalised its document production exercise within the next couple of days.
“All documents provided by HFC to the panel to date have been reviewed by the panel for their relevance to the investigation. Relevant documents concerning participants who have made complaints against HFC and its previous coaches and officers have been provided to those participants’ lawyers.”
He said under the AFL rules the panel “is not permitted to itself mediate the matter.”
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