Sent: Friday, 16 August 2013 5:01 PM
To: '[email protected]';
'[email protected]'; '[email protected]'
Cc: '[email protected]'
Subject: Hunting Essendon into the ground
Dear Recipients
Natural Justice for Essendon - a legal perspective from TEAM LAW
1. In my view Minter Ellison Lawyers has a conflict of interest in representing the AFL Commission at the hearing of charges against the Essendon Football Club, James Hird et al. A primary rule of natural justice is that the decision maker must be impartial and must have no personal stake in the matter to be decided. The AFL is a corporate entity of which the 18 teams are shareholders. The issue of conflict of interest of the decision maker must extend to the legal team advising the AFL in forming judgment of one of the shareholders. Minter Ellison Lawyers controversially was previously engaged to represent both the Adelaide Football Club and the AFL in the Kurt Tippett affair (see Galbally QC queries legal teams http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/galbally-queries-legal-teams-20121117-29j5g.html ) raising issues of conflict of interest. Conflict with regards the current Essendon saga is not based on Minter Ellison having previously acted for Essendon, but arises on the basis that the 18 clubs are joint shareholders of the AFL corporation and that Minter Ellison has had past if not continuous engagement with other shareholder/s who are also direct competitors of Essendon in the AFL business.
2. Further, Andrew Demetriou should not be on the panel. He has his own image problems. He laughably endorsed the narrative that the drugs investigation was the darkest day in the history of sport in Australia. He aligned himself with the head of the Crimes Commission, the Home Affairs Cabinet Minister, and other sport’s CEOs who in a moment of egregious judgment defamed virtually all professional sport in Australia as being corrupted. The evidence has not been produced to justify that damnation. His close alliance with governments, and in this case the Federal Labor government desirous of a distracting front page headline, blurred his perspective. The AFL has under the Demetriou reign become the collaborator of government social engineering programmes, procurring economic and political booty for the AFL but delivering a less family and community orientated enterprise.
3. We have witnessed how much natural justice and tolerance was allowed by a politically correct Demetriou and the AFL Board of Directors with the 13 year old girl who was detained by the police like a criminal for around 2 hours at the MCG, and vilified as a racist for having shouted the word ‘ape’ from the fence at Sydney Swans’ player Adam Goodes, despite her response that she did not realise she was being racist. The child probably knows nothing about colonialism and the history and slang of race relations pre-multiculturalism. It is common knowledge that the ‘ape’ word and images of apes have been repeated on the Channel Nine Footy Show associating dark hairy footballers with apes for probably the last 10 years. Blame Channel Nine, Newman, Lyon and Braithwaite. The AFL Commission, Demetriou, the Collingwood Football Club and the media never gave that kid natural justice and she is still demeaned in the media as a ‘face of racism’. The AFL in its failure to protect the child from vilification has brought itself into disrepute, and it has done nothing to ameliorate the situation. And Essendon can expect to be treated by the AFL with the same self-righteous injustice, and therefore the club has rightfully chosen to defend the charges regardless of other implications for the series; and the defence needs to be at every level of the proceedings.
4. Given that the federal election is due on 7 September 2013 the panel that ultimately judges this matter on 26 August will be under tremendous pressure, implied or otherwise, from the federal government to make an example of Essendon, James Hird, Mark Thompson, Dr Bruce Reid and Danny Corcoran. The hearing ought to be postponed until after the imminent election to ensure the hearing is depoliticised as much as possible. This will also give the AFL time to engage a new legal team to avoid a perception of bias. Regardless of the AFL’s rush to dish out penalties before the final series, and cleanse itself if of its own failures throughout the investigation, natural justice for Essendon must be the first port of call for the benefit of all sport in Australia.
Trevor Poulton
Solicitor
TEAM LAW
Essendon supplements scandal charges AFL ASADA, Essendon free to play finals, AFL delays hearing, loss of competition points, Minter Ellison, Paul Little,
Jack Rush QC and Essendon hearing, AOD-9604 and Essendon players, Don's charge sheets
https://lh5.ggpht.com/OqODMEypaJPuD8_bI7z2c54O6J5O5Gi1ZUaUSa1fIMyBmKbdynqJK5h4YHQe4sTRcRabjA=s156
To: '[email protected]';
'[email protected]'; '[email protected]'
Cc: '[email protected]'
Subject: Hunting Essendon into the ground
Dear Recipients
Natural Justice for Essendon - a legal perspective from TEAM LAW
1. In my view Minter Ellison Lawyers has a conflict of interest in representing the AFL Commission at the hearing of charges against the Essendon Football Club, James Hird et al. A primary rule of natural justice is that the decision maker must be impartial and must have no personal stake in the matter to be decided. The AFL is a corporate entity of which the 18 teams are shareholders. The issue of conflict of interest of the decision maker must extend to the legal team advising the AFL in forming judgment of one of the shareholders. Minter Ellison Lawyers controversially was previously engaged to represent both the Adelaide Football Club and the AFL in the Kurt Tippett affair (see Galbally QC queries legal teams http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/galbally-queries-legal-teams-20121117-29j5g.html ) raising issues of conflict of interest. Conflict with regards the current Essendon saga is not based on Minter Ellison having previously acted for Essendon, but arises on the basis that the 18 clubs are joint shareholders of the AFL corporation and that Minter Ellison has had past if not continuous engagement with other shareholder/s who are also direct competitors of Essendon in the AFL business.
2. Further, Andrew Demetriou should not be on the panel. He has his own image problems. He laughably endorsed the narrative that the drugs investigation was the darkest day in the history of sport in Australia. He aligned himself with the head of the Crimes Commission, the Home Affairs Cabinet Minister, and other sport’s CEOs who in a moment of egregious judgment defamed virtually all professional sport in Australia as being corrupted. The evidence has not been produced to justify that damnation. His close alliance with governments, and in this case the Federal Labor government desirous of a distracting front page headline, blurred his perspective. The AFL has under the Demetriou reign become the collaborator of government social engineering programmes, procurring economic and political booty for the AFL but delivering a less family and community orientated enterprise.
3. We have witnessed how much natural justice and tolerance was allowed by a politically correct Demetriou and the AFL Board of Directors with the 13 year old girl who was detained by the police like a criminal for around 2 hours at the MCG, and vilified as a racist for having shouted the word ‘ape’ from the fence at Sydney Swans’ player Adam Goodes, despite her response that she did not realise she was being racist. The child probably knows nothing about colonialism and the history and slang of race relations pre-multiculturalism. It is common knowledge that the ‘ape’ word and images of apes have been repeated on the Channel Nine Footy Show associating dark hairy footballers with apes for probably the last 10 years. Blame Channel Nine, Newman, Lyon and Braithwaite. The AFL Commission, Demetriou, the Collingwood Football Club and the media never gave that kid natural justice and she is still demeaned in the media as a ‘face of racism’. The AFL in its failure to protect the child from vilification has brought itself into disrepute, and it has done nothing to ameliorate the situation. And Essendon can expect to be treated by the AFL with the same self-righteous injustice, and therefore the club has rightfully chosen to defend the charges regardless of other implications for the series; and the defence needs to be at every level of the proceedings.
4. Given that the federal election is due on 7 September 2013 the panel that ultimately judges this matter on 26 August will be under tremendous pressure, implied or otherwise, from the federal government to make an example of Essendon, James Hird, Mark Thompson, Dr Bruce Reid and Danny Corcoran. The hearing ought to be postponed until after the imminent election to ensure the hearing is depoliticised as much as possible. This will also give the AFL time to engage a new legal team to avoid a perception of bias. Regardless of the AFL’s rush to dish out penalties before the final series, and cleanse itself if of its own failures throughout the investigation, natural justice for Essendon must be the first port of call for the benefit of all sport in Australia.
Trevor Poulton
Solicitor
TEAM LAW
Essendon supplements scandal charges AFL ASADA, Essendon free to play finals, AFL delays hearing, loss of competition points, Minter Ellison, Paul Little,
Jack Rush QC and Essendon hearing, AOD-9604 and Essendon players, Don's charge sheets
https://lh5.ggpht.com/OqODMEypaJPuD8_bI7z2c54O6J5O5Gi1ZUaUSa1fIMyBmKbdynqJK5h4YHQe4sTRcRabjA=s156
19 SEPTEMBER 2013 - ALF DROPS ALL CHARGES AGAINST DR BRUCE REID. JUSTICE HAS FINALLY BEEN ACHIEVED.
