AFL 2023: Mark Robinson on the cultural bomb escalating the Hawthorn racism scandal

The impasses and differing accounts that surround the Hawthorn racism saga represent a cultural bomb for the AFL that appears headed to the Human Rights Commission, writes Mark Robinson.

Who does the AFL believe – Jason Burt or “Zac’’?

And what does it do now in this escalation of the Hawthorn racism scandal?

The differing accounts of what happened when Burt said he, Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan were at Zac’s house, which eventuated with Zac leaving his pregnant partner, is more than a dilemma.

It’s a cultural bomb.

Separately, the AFL is attempting to reach a settlement with four other Indigenous families, via their lawyer Leon Zwier, but that deal is dead in the water.

The families didn’t like the settlement. They want apologies from Clarkson, Fagan and Burt, among other requests, but apologies won’t be forthcoming.

That impasse will likely lead to a Human Rights Commission outcome.

Zac and his wife are already pursuing a pathway to the Human Rights Commission.

That pathway will soon be a highway.

Jason Burt and Alastair Clarkson.

The AFL must feel like it is banging its head up against a brick wall.

The Indigenous families feel like they have been banging their heads against a brick wall for the past decade. The Indigenous people of Australia would probably say they’ve been banging away for 300 years.

To try to make a complex situation simple, all the families with grievances against Hawthorn, the AFL and Clarkson, Fagan and Burt, believe they have been subjected to intergenerational racism.

That’s not being called nasty names, it’s about the displacement of families, of white people telling black people how to live and who to live with.

Clarkson, Fagan and Burt have denied any wrongdoing.

Their lawyers have been made aware of the claims the families feel like they have been subjected to intergenerational trauma.

Burt, who was Hawthorn’s welfare manager, said at the weekend that he had “nothing to say sorry for’’.

But he also spoke of the edgy and intimidating interaction at Zac’s house, which Burt says he, Fagan and Clarkson attended.

“I think that’s the part that overstepped the mark from being supportive to what could be deemed intimidating. And I get that and that’s what makes me feel uncomfortable,” Burt told Nine Media.

Zac’s version of events was disturbing reading.

There were tears at the meeting. Zac’s partner didn’t want him to leave. Zac’s partner, who is now his wife, lost their baby afterwards.

Their accounts differ as much as black against white.

Plainly, Burt said Zac wanted to leave his partner, but Zac’s lawyer has described it as “forced separation”.

Gillon McLachlan and the AFL are in the middle of all this. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

In the middle of all this is the AFL.

It already had Burt’s version of events – Burt said he had previously spoken with the AFL – and it’s not known if it was the first time they had read Zac’s version.

Zac’s claim was not investigated by the AFL’s independent panel, because Zac refused to be part of it. But the goalposts have moved dramatically.

In one interview, the first from any of the accused, Burt validated that the event took place.

One of the four families – who still have Zwier as their representative despite unease over the proposed settlement – also claimed they were separated.

They believe it was an abuse of their human rights.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan can’t ignore Zac’s version of events.

Neither can commission chairman Richard Goyder.

The AFL has its core values and racism policies and it is now confronted with testimony from one former Indigenous player who says he was forced out of his home.

It was edgy and intimidating, Burt was quoted as saying.

Aside from the four First Nations families still in settlement talks with the AFL, the league has to determine if the alleged actions from Clarkson, Fagan and Burt at the house that day are in breach of AFL rules and regulations.

If the answer is yes, a sanction could be imposed.

If the answer is no, then there’s nothing to see here.

But if it is no, that won’t be the end of it.

If the Human Rights Commission finds Hawthorn and the coaching trio breached the human rights of Zac and his partner, the AFL will have the nation looking at it for a response.

In the meantime, what the AFL can’t do is nothing.