Hawthorn boss Jeff Kennett has defended his comments over the weekend and hopes the allegations of racism and controlling behaviour aimed at the club will be resolved “by Christmas”.
In a heated exchange with Today host Ally Langdon on Monday, the outgoing president and former Victorian premier also revealed he attempted to reach out to one of the players accusing the club of mistreatment.
Kennett reiterated his view that the accusations made by former First Nations players in the club’s cultural survey were “shocking” but not a crisis.
“To me, a crisis is something I experienced some years ago when premier, when I was driving back from the country and was rung up and told that the Longford gas plant had had an explosion, people had died, people were injured, and the gas supplies to Melbourne had been cut off,” Kennett said.
“These allegations are shocking, and they’ve got to be managed. They’ve got to be dealt with, particularly in the interest of those who have been named.”
Langdon responded: “So are you saying that this isn’t a crisis? Because no one has died?”
Kennett then added: “No, no, I’m saying how you go about managing a situation.”
Kennett spoke out on the allegations at Hawthorns’ best and fairest on Saturday, before taking to 3AW on Sunday morning to defend his club, pointing to their current record as a ‘safe’ working place for Indigenous players.
A report last month detailed harrowing allegations by unnamed Indigenous players that they were separated from their families and urged to terminate pregnancies by then coach Alastair Clarkson and former football manager Chris Fagan. Clarkson and Fagan have denied any wrongdoing and have taken a leave of absence from their current roles.
The AFL confirmed an independent inquiry will investigate the allegations with a four-person panel, yet to be publicly announced, leading it. WorkSafe Victoria will also begin its investigation to the claims on Monday.
Kennett hopes there will be a resolution sooner rather than later.
“I hope, this is my wish, that all parties will agree to mediation quickly, so that this can be resolved as quickly as possible,” he said. “And I hope it could be done by Christmas. Otherwise, there’s going to be a whole number of families who are going to continue to hurt for a period of time.”
When probed by Langdon about why former players felt they needed to speak to the media about their experience, Kennett, who previously criticised players for going public, grew frustrated before defending his stance.
“With due respect, this is why I don’t come on your show very regularly. If you continue to interrupt, you won’t get the answers you seek,” Kennett said.
“I don’t know why they went public. It was a confidential survey to find out the experiences of all our Indigenous players. Confidential. They agreed that, they wanted it. And then they went public. I don’t know why they did. You’d have to ask them.”
Kennett said he attempted to reach out to one of the players after the allegations went public.
“ To my knowledge, they are not talking to anyone at Hawthorn, or anyone at the AFL at the moment. It’s all going through their lawyers, as it is with the other parties. And you’re seeing the reaction from all people involved. It’s becoming a very legalistic process. And as you will understand that will give rise to a legal feast for the lawyers,” he said.
