Clarkson slams ‘shameful’ Hawthorn conduct

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has exploded over the handling of the eight-month-old independent investigation into allegations of racism at Hawthorn, savaging his former club and the process.

Clarkson, who has not yet been given the chance to provide his evidence to the panel, said it had become “a circus” that denied him and his co-accused, including former Hawks officials Chris Fagan and Jason Burt, any procedural fairness and said either Hawthorn or the AFL needed to take control of the process.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson addresses the media on Thursday.

Clarkson, Fagan and Burt have all denied the allegations of historical racism made by a number of former Indigenous players and families.

The attack came the day after The Age published the reasons why the investigation had dragged on for so long, via a statement from lead investigator Bernard Quinn, KC. Hawthorn have accessed 37,000 emails and documents as part of the process, but the First Nations ex-players and partners have not agreed to handing over a number of private documents to Clarkson, Fagan and Burt’s legal teams.

The former Hawthorn coach said the probe should turn its attention to the Hawks’ conduct throughout, describing it as shameful.

“There is one particular party that is the catalyst for all this that has not been investigated at all their governance and conduct in this whole thing – the Hawthorn Football Club – just shameful,” Clarkson said.

“Let’s do an investigation on them and their practices and see how they go.”

He said that although he was prepared to stick with the process, he had little faith in the investigation.

“The damage is done, 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. Once we get that opportunity, then we’ll let the judge decide.

“That will either be a court of law or the court of public opinion.

“We’ve waited for eight months to get some sort of process going in terms of what you call procedural fairness in terms of the legal game, and the procedural fairness offered to myself, ‘Fages’ and Jason has been next to zero and that’s particularly frustrating.”

Kangaroos president Sonja Hood supported the coach’s comments, saying the club board had heard Clarkson’s side of the story in October and unanimously supported his return to the club in November. She also took aim at the process.

“I think, given the allegations against him, the fact that he [Clarkson] and Chris Fagan and Jason Burt have had to stay silent for eight months is outrageous,” Hood said.

“Considering that they set up a special process to get to the truth in October, and we are now in May, and we’re no closer ... they can say whatever they like, we are no closer to getting to the truth – is terrible.

“That is not to downplay the seriousness of the allegations, and it’s certainly not to downplay the seriousness of people’s hurt.”

Quinn declined to comment on Thursday.

Hawthorn handed a cultural safety report containing the allegations to the AFL’s integrity department last year but did not give Clarkson, Fagan and Burt the opportunity to respond before doing so.

However, a Hawthorn spokesperson defended the club’s role following Clarkson’s comments.

“Hawthorn continues to cooperate fully with the AFL and the independent panel while the investigation continues,” the 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.”

Former Hawks president Jeff Kennett – who was at the club when the Phil Egan-led report was commissioned – told 3AW the investigation the AFL set-up should be shut down.

“Eight months down the track this has become an unfair process, as it was always going to be, it has become a lawyer’s picnic and there is no solution,” Kennett said. “Close the thing down.”

Clarkson said he and his family had been “shamed” and all they could hope for now was to claw back some of their damaged reputation. He said being denied a platform for eight months had been challenging and implored the league to take control.

“Someone needs to cut through it all and take ownership of the whole process, whether that is within the Hawthorn Football Club, or the AFL,” Clarkson said.

“Someone from either one of those two bodies needs to take ownership of just what has happened in terms of the governance and the conduct of this whole process and allow us the fair opportunity to tell our story and then let the judge decide. We’re happy to sit in that process.

“We will just wait and see what the AFL do next. Heaven forbid, where is this going? It’s just extraordinary that we have waited eight months for this. The game is shamed, obviously myself, ‘Fages’ [Chris Fagan] and Jason [Burt] and our families have been shamed.”

Outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has stayed in the role in an attempt to see the investigation through but told club CEOs that the process had become a mess at a recent meeting

Earlier in the day, AFL chief executive-elect Andrew Dillon claimed the independence of the Hawthorn investigation has not been compromised, despite numerous parties going to the media in the past 24 hours.

Hood later provided Nine with a statement regarding the due diligence the club had completed on Clarkson regarding his side of the story after the allegations were leaked.

But Dillon said the investigation process had not been jeopardised by the commentary.

“It’s been a long process, but it’s a really sensitive and complex issue that we’re dealing with, and it’s independent of the AFL,” he said.

“We’ll continue to work with the panel and all of the parties. It’s really sensitive and we’ve got to continue to work with them, and bring it to a swift resolution, but we’ve got to respect the process.”

Asked whether Hood’s comments contained pre-judgment of Clarkson’s innocence or otherwise, Dillon said: “The North Melbourne president has made that comment, but that doesn’t impact on the investigation.

“It’s independent from that, and we’ll continue to respect that process.”

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