Sorry Saga - “It’s actually quite funny people thinking they know more than they actually do”

The Red Sash‏ @The_Red_Sash

Caroline Wilson saying she was “bullied by the AFL” & it’s a disgrace how it’s been handled…

Oh dear…i wonder if she considers 64 derogatory articles condemning Hird as bullying.

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There are moves afoot to take away tax deductions to polically active charities.
On the other hand, you can get tax deductions for channelling money in the form of sponsorship under the Australian Sports Foundation system. Sport wins!

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I wonder if this is why Gil is on holiday …having to testify??? we can only hope

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The Tories want to crack down on GetUp but AFAIK donations to them are NOT tax deductible - or are they? (I hope they are!)

Lenore Taylor had an article in the Guardian on 15 July re environmental charities.

Whoever set them up in the first place was a genius and as bent as they come. Very clever admin indeed.

It is like a mafia family, who all look after each other and follow a strict code amongst themselves.

You know what they say…it takes one to really know one.

TAKE CARE:

This interview is with Caroline Wilson

https://omny.fm/shows/3aw-sportsday/caroline-wilson-takes-aim-at-the-afl-and-its-bully

She may wish to acknowledge and apologize for her bias in reporting the Essendon saga before anyone here will listen to her, but the recording of her whining about the AFL being a bully is provided for the record.

Will definitely help Mr Taylor’s case against the AFL (Hearing in Supreme Court was June 8, Case is adjourned as the Judge in considering a costs argument at the moment)

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I listened, lol, re didn’t like Lukin getting personal.

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so they are assuming the afl will win?? how about just letting the process happen & see who wins first …why should the rich be the only ones able to go to court?

Laws are not made by the poor.

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Yep its really different when the shoe is on your foot but; its hardly ever personal you know Caro.

I don’t know when this is a tactical move by Caro and Co. I am just waiting for her next editorial on James Hird and the Norm Smith Medal. One thing for certain AFL House has had a penny bunger thrown into the Board room and the fall out from a hat trick in two weeks is going to be interesting watching.

Liz might be running out of band aids.

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IIRC, the AFL paid out about $200k to settle a bullying claim against Catterall, who left soon after.

Many people see Justice and the Law linked but surprisingly they are not and never have been. The law is way of controlling the masses. Justice is about applying the law and legal argument. Fact is, if you have the right connections, enough dollars, you can buy the best minds practicing law, be lucky enough to get the right judge sitting and walk away free.

Working within the Justice System was a real eye opener. Many people I know who have studied Law have become disappointed, frustrated and disgruntled and moved away from the profession. There are two different phases of the Law running side by side, make sure you are on the side, where having the right connections can buy you a get out of jail card. The other side sucks…wheels with wheels.

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It seems to be the AFL haven’t got a clue about the difference between sexual harassment, bullying, consensual sexual relationships, relationships where there is a power imbalance, and intimidation.
The focus from a lot of people seems to be on the fact the two men were married, as if that should make a difference. It is bizarre.
It really puts women back to the “delicate flower must be protected” category and I think it is a step backwards.

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Heard there is bit more to this than has been reported on social media this morning. Caro having a go at poor stressed Gillon McLaughlin and Liz Lukin having a red hot go at her. Getting personal Caro said. There is a bit of smoke and mirrors going on. I guess it may eventually be flushed out of the drain, not all the pieces have been laid out on the table yet.

Could not happen to a nicer group of mirroring shape shifter/lifters…

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Overseas at the moment anyone got an update on the Taylor court action against the afl?

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Are you thinking about a French letter???

Interesting article in the Australian today. Headline is ‘End of the road for Gillon?’

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/today-in-victoria-gillon-mclachlans-tenure-at-afl-under-threat-catholics-on-the-march/news-story/1c52c907383f035952fe5de8151fb127?login=1

Unfortunately it’s behind the paywall but the gist is McLachlan has miscalculated and his number may be up.

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Here it is:

End of the line for Gillon McLachlan?

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian Editor Melbourne @fergusonjw

It often takes time for the true damage of political earthquakes to become clear.
Gillon McLachlan, the AFL’s boss, is about to learn this crack by crack, tremor by tremor.
Until he lost three executives in a hurry, McLachlan had been seen to have done a very good job of repairing the confrontationalist legacy of predecessor Andrew Demetriou.
McLachlan has repositioned the organisation to become less combative, less reactionary and broaden it in a way that few could ever have imagined.
The indigenous agenda is not his but the women’s transformation is.
If it’s a bad look, it’s damaging
It is an incredible achievement when seen in the context of the 1960s, when boys (not girls) were handed their first football, quite probably brown, plastic and straight into the bassinet.
Yet despite having cleverly positioned the AFL, with a warm and understated manner, there is a real risk that the aftershocks of the three forced resignations will bring McLachlan down.
The initial response to the sex scandals and on field indiscretions of senior AFL staff was that McLachlan had responded to the crises firmly and with an eye to the future.
On the sex scandals front, that he had moved to protect the reputation of the women’s game.
The problem is that McLachlan, in France on a week’s holiday, has left behind as many questions as he has answered, meaning this issue will bleed. Or at least if anyone is interested in proper accountability, not just push and shove criticism that disappears with the next torn hamstring.
The football industry is reluctant to eat its own and this was fully evident in the immediate aftermath of the sex scandal resignations.
But ever so slowly, people are starting to question exactly what was behind the forced resignations and whether or not there is a need for an even broader clean-up of the organisation.
Further, now that McLachlan has gone into the business of moralising, what else is there to be uncovered?
This is the dangerous trap that has been set for the organisation.
It was widely reported — including by The Weekend Australian — that the AFL Commission was unanimous in its support for the forced resignations of football general manager Simon Lethlean and commercial general manager Richard Simkiss.
Yet, The Australian has also been told that there was some initial concern expressed about axing Lethlean and Simkiss.
One, maybe even two, of the commissioners were of the view that forced resignations for office romances was a step too far.
Indeed, they might have had a point.
If we are basing our assessments purely on what is public, it is hard to know.
The question Today in Victoria wants to know is whether there were any other factors that fed into the decision to dump two of the most senior sports administrators in the land.
McLachlan has not answered this definitively. It’s time he did.
It’s also incumbent on him and the AFL to declare how much the three disgraced executives — remember silly, violent old Ali Fahour? — were paid out.
Sure, there are privacy considerations.
But these are outweighed by the fact that McLachlan was very close to at least two of those forced to resign.
How much did this nonsense cost the football industry and what will have to be cut from the budget to pay for it?
The Weekend Australian’s Patrick Smith wrote a revealing column on Saturday, where he alluded to one of the women involved in the affairs suffering emotionally, being on leave. She was stressed, he wrote.
Smith also noted that both relationships had become common knowledge in the AFL.
Common knowledge but perhaps a mystery for some time to members of the AFL Commission.
The commission is a collective of mostly very smart and intuitive people.
They will know that on the whole McLachlan has been an excellent CEO.
They will also know that more controversy and deeper questioning about the sex scandals would expose the commission and, perhaps more importantly, the game to ridicule.
The politics of this would be bad for McLachlan.
This is no doubt why he was so shattered last Friday.
Friends matter.
Careers — and therefore family — sometimes matter more.