How a government can just stand by and allow it’s citizen’s lives to be ruined in an overseas court on such weak and flimsy evidence is utterly shameful. If Essendon was a pretty young girl or good looking boy,caught red handed with drugs overseas, they would have been given all the help and favorable press in the world
9 Likes
How many threads dedicated to the SAGA will we end up with?
Between them, McDevitt , Hunt and Farrell shifted the goalposts in rejecting the call for an inquiry.
In the case of McDevitt, , he based it on his exoneration by the Privileges Committee, following the Hird/ Francis complaints and the fact that rulings/ findings cannot be set aside.
In the case of Hunt, it was no new or substantive evidence.
In the case of Farrell,
( Shadow Minister for Sport) no reasons were given .
None of them addressed the basis of the request for an inquiry, which is the ethics and practices of ASADA etc.
Senate Brief No . 4 on the powers and procedures of the Senate ( available on the APH site) refers to the role of Senate Committees as, among other things " shining light on dark corners"
That is precisely the basis of the request for an inquiry… The Senate is the House of Review. Hunt has effectively usurped that role, as has Farrell in attempting to cut off Senate Committe debate. The dark corners have been further darkened by their behaviour…
11 Likes
You might try Geoffrey Smith who lives in Campbell’s Creek, Victoria. Well known overseas but not very well known in his own country. Could be worth a try.
Justice For The 34, in a statement, said Mr Hunt’s decision was “inappropriate”.
“It was the department which presided over the ASADA investigation,” the group said.
“The department is not independent. There should be an inquiry by a Senate Committee.”
The group said there had not been a review of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Act (2006) in 10 years.
“The inquiry should review the entire anti-doping framework. There is a need to ensure the rights of Australian athletes are consistent with the rights of other citizens.
“Such is the concern internationally that the UK Parliament and US Senate are both conducting independent inquiries.
“Why is that not possible in Australia? An independent inquiry is needed.”
15 Likes
Who is Geoffrey Smith?
1 Like
How many are there now?
1?
3 Likes
That the Department conducted the investigation and came back with a ‘nothing to see here response’, smacks of the AFL finding there was no case to answer for other clubs and supplement programs. It’s like Demetriou thinking it was okay if he sat on the commission that was going to determine if Hird had brought the game into disrepute! From THE tapes we know the commission didn’t have to make that decision anyway because Gill and Co had already made it before the commission even saw the charges.
The Health and Sport department runs its own accountability just like the AFL. No one votes for the public servants or for the AFL commission. Seems we’re totally ruled by self interest in every sphere of our lives.
11 Likes
The department is not independent and cannot be while those loyal to Eccles remain. Remember also Eccles is a deputy secretary in PM&C and will have powerful friends.
There are three areas that we should keep hammering:
1 the unlawful interference of the Gilard government
2 the denial of the right to not self incrinimate and confidentiality, enshrined in the ASADA Act, caused by the joint investigation.
3 the fact the CAS process is not approriate for domestic team sports and more importantly it does not use Australian rules of evidence and in the Essendon case it accepted false evidence.
11 Likes
Yes, they could make the labor government look silly, but I am sure the Labor government would return fire, a lot of other stupid ■■■■ happened that shouldn’t have, while the liberals have been in power. Here lies the other part of the problem both major party’s would come out looking pretty silly. So therefore both agree the inquiry is not in there best interests. Also don’t underestimate how powerful the AFL is in this. They are worth millions to the government, so the government will try not to bite the hands that feeds it. This is the very reason the AFL was given free reign to stage manage and scapegoat the EFC.
The only way something can happen is to play one against the other in a way that they dirt cant be thrown back. How this could be done I have no idea.
5 Likes
From what I have been told, Turnbull and Shorten have serious dirt on each other, but they have a ‘gentlemen’s’ agreement not to spill on each other. Could explain why neither party want to open a potential pandoras box - better to leave Australian athletes without rights. Source is second hand, but make of it what you will.
2 Likes
To give Yaco his due, he has been saying just what the last two posters said - but he has been saying it for two years or more.
5 Likes
He makes documentaries. If you wikipedia him you should find information on him. Mostly known overseas has won some prestigious awards. Not very well known outside own circle in Australia.
Campbell’s Creek is near Castlemaine in Central Victoria.
3 Likes
Do yourself a favour, listen to this weeks ‘the Ticket’ with Tracey Holmes when the podcast becomes available. The panel she has assembled and the topics covered are fabulous.
The CEO of Skins was on the panel and is very vocal on a number of occasions, great to know his company is a sponsor of EFC.
6 Likes
Sadly I think point 2 has been settled by the Federal Court cases 19thman. In the absence of appealing those decisions at the High Court (and winning) opponents will be able to bat that one away too easily and say ASADA was found by Middelton to have acted within their legislated powers (as crazy as that might seem).
I think point 2 could be replaced however by the self-evident inappropriateness/corruption of ASADA assisting the AFL to construct the AFL’s desired outcome throughout 2013 and how procedural fairness was thrown out the window. Even though we got all those juicy details about the deal making and doctoring of the interim report through discovery at the Federal Court a lot of them turned out to be irrelevant to the Middleton decision, so in effect, those actions still remain to be approved or condemned in any formal way, perhaps by some kind of parliamentary process?
6 Likes
Listened to most of the Ticket this morning. It is clear that Tracey Holmes has not given up. While addressing the big picture on athlete rights and the need to fix the global system - Including the problem with the interrrelations of the mates across the different bodies- she manages to link the relevant issues to the saga
In her references to the media role , she refers to how the government used the media in regard to the darkest day in sport. She noted the promises made by Jason Clare that were never delivered.
There was also discussion on the lack of scientific rigour in placing more and more substances on the WADA banned list, while neglecting the serious health risks to athletes from the permitted use of painkillers.
I would like to see her do a report on the role of sporting bodies such as AFL. If we can’t get to ASADA it could shine more light on the darkest corners of AFL behaviour - on which all has not been revealed. Perhaps that time will come when questions are asked about the content of AFL internal review.
8 Likes
All politicians are honest, principled and have the best interests of the community at large.
i.e.
On any issue they count the number of votes gained from the community and how many they will lose.
1 Like
I love how people think that judges are beyond reproach and are principled, upstanding fellows (and ladies).
Just remember that all judges are former lawyers. Even those who helped found the Essendon Women’s Network.
3 Likes
Check out the Kangaroo Court of Australia website to see what our judges are like. They sell t-shirts that say “Why rent a lawyer when you can buy a judge”. Classic.
6 Likes
