WTB, as I understand it:
i. Hawthorn collected and holds a bunch of information from the club review it set up, which was leaked.
ii. Given the serious matters raised by the leaking/whistle blowing, the AFL took over the investigation.
iii. Hawthorn has handed over the relevant documents to the AFL panel. There were a lot of documents to be reviewed (37,000).
iv. Many of the key documents contain personal and sensitive information about the people making the allegations.
v. Those participants don’t want the documents released to Fagan, Clarkson etc.
vi. Fagan, Clarkson etc. want to know the details of what they’re accused of doing before they are formally interviewed / attend mediation.
vii. Clarkson in particular seems vexed by the fact the investigation parameters were set up by Hawthorn, and curiously only for the period where Kennett wasn’t running the club, and only focussing on the ex-coaches.
viii. The AFL’s investigation panel can’t tell Clarkson what they’re accused of doing until the participants agree to release the information.
So, the panel is at a genuine impasse. I think all parties are acting rationally, it’s just a very complex situation. At this stage it’s a workplace investigation, so the AFL panel can’t compel participants or subjects to do certain things that would help the investigation.
I think Clarkson has every right to be dubious about the process set up by Hawthorn, and I think he has every right to want to know what he’s accused of before he participates. He could elect to participate anyway, but I think it’s pretty narrow to blame him for the derailing the process.
