Wednesday, 21 September 2022

 Mr ATKINSON (Eastern Metropolitan) (10:42): I was most disturbed this morning to hear the news of what has been revealed at Hawthorn Football Club—intolerable behaviour. Whilst obviously the Parliament is not in a position to direct the AFL in what they should do, there is no doubt that a considerable amount of largesse is provided by government to the AFL and other major sporting bodies, and there is an expectation that they set a standard of behaviour that the entire community ought to be able to look up to and appreciate as being a standard that we should all be measured by. At the very least Alastair Clarkson ought to stand down for a period until there is a complete investigation and the allegations that have surfaced this morning are proven or disproven. I think Fagan in Brisbane ought to also stand aside. It is the right and proper thing to do. The coercion of young Aboriginal players was racist—absolutely an extraordinary incident of racism—but to go further and to actually insist on the termination of a pregnancy, to be coercing young men and young women, those Indigenous players, is just one of the worst things I have ever heard in my 30 years in this place and beyond. It is outrageous, and people need to stand to account. The AFL is not above the law. Clarkson might have been a great coach, but if that is the way he achieved his success then I do not want to be seeing that sort of success by anybody in the future.