This was published 3 years ago
Blues president re-elected, along with Pratt, Mathieson
By Jake Niall
Carlton president Mark LoGiudice has won a contested board election and will remain at the helm of the club this year, while Jeanne Pratt and Craig Mathieson – members of Carlton’s most influential families – have also been returned by the members.
LoGiudice, Pratt and Mathieson each won more than three quarters of the vote for the election, with challengers John Hollingsworth (38 per cent of vote) and Steve Khatib (17 per cent) unable to unseat the incumbents.
The election confirmed that LoGiudice will remain president for the 2021 season, with octogenarian Pratt – widow of the late Richard Pratt and matriarch of a multi-billionaire family – remaining on the club board along with Mathieson, whose uncle, the pokies magnate Bruce Mathieson, has been the most important benefactor at Carlton over the past several years as a result of their joint ventures in gaming.
After the results were announced at Carlton’s annual general meeting, LoGiudice called the result a vote for stability by the members. LoGiudice received 81 per cent of the vote, Pratt and Mathieson 77 each.
LoGiudice would not be drawn at the AGM on whether he would continue as president beyond 2021, saying he had not made a decision.
Under Carlton’s rules, LoGiudice is slated stand down from the presidency – and the board – in 12 months, because of term limits, unless he seeks and receives an endorsement from the members to continue past the 12-year limit (for directors).
Well-connected Carlton sources believe that Luke Sayers, the board member who recently stepped down as Australian chief executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers and has strong business and political connections, is the most likely successor to LoGiudice when he steps down, whether that is in 12 months, or later.
Hollingsworth, a former chairman of Softball Australia who manages a private investment fund, had campaigned on a platform that Carlton’s lack of on-field success and removal of various coaches and key executives under those three directors over the past decade (all three having been there since 2012) – headed by the president – warranted a change.
LoGiudice, however, argued that the Blues had the strongest playing list they had owned for a long time and were on an upward trajectory on the field, having also wiped off their once-crippling debt and created new businesses that were not reliant on football revenues, while also positioning the club to reduce its reliance on gaming revenue.
The Blues have had healthy growth in membership since the appointment of Cain Liddle as chief executive, Liddle having crossed from Richmond where he played a role in that club’s fan engagement under chief executive Brendon Gale.