good article ...no..... great article by p smith

[stinger]

AFL's softly-softly approach to send Pratt quietly into the night


Patrick Smith | December 06, 2007

CARLTON optimists are hoping that all the controversy swirling around its president Richard Pratt will fly away with Qantas. It will not.
Not unless a Qantas official found guilty in the recent US price fixing case is president of another AFL club.

A quick flick through the AFL media guide would suggest not. That has hardly unsettled Carlton. An official, asked whether Pratt would continue on as president despite his firm Visy being fined $36million for price fixing, said there would be no comment from Pratt. "We are allowing Qantas to do all the talking now," he said.

Which is cute but hardly relevant. As long as no guilty Qantas official holds senior office in the AFL system, then comparisons with Pratt's predicament are plainly absurd.

The AFL commission is embarrassed by Pratt and his determination to hold on to control of the Blues.

While AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick has said the matter has not been formally discussed at the commission table and it is not, for the moment, on the agenda for this month's meeting, the league administration dearly wishes Pratt would disappear.

The league's chief executive, Andrew Demetriou, would not be drawn on the issue this week. He said no AFL officer or commission member had contacted Pratt about the appropriateness of the Visy board chairman's decision to remain at Carlton.

Most importantly, though, was Demetriou's refusal to rule out the likelihood that intermediaries had spoken to Pratt asking him to walk away from the presidency.

It would be the AFL's hope that Pratt announce that he was stepping down and was in the process of ensuring a stable transition of power. After all, his work is done at Carlton.

He has restored the club's self-esteem, cleaned up its finances, established a strong administration and collected Chris Judd, the best player in the league.

Observers say that Pratt has been genuinely but not surprisingly rattled by the Federal Court decision to fine Visy $36m. Justice Peter Heerey in his judgment last month said Visy's actions were calculated and premeditated. It has been estimated the cartel with Amcor ripped some $700m off Australians.

In what is the biggest price fixing case to come before Australian courts, Heerey said: "There cannot be any doubt that Mr Pratt also knew that the cartel, to which he gave his approval, and in which he has admitted to be knowingly concerned, was seriously unlawful." Pratt was not fined personally because he would have to fund the Visy fine as it was.

Attempts yesterday to seek an explanation from Pratt as to why he thought it appropriate to continue as president failed.

Visy and Carlton officials would only say the Carlton board wanted him to continue. Fitzpatrick, who has overseen but not shown leadership in one of the game's most turbulent years, would not talk to The Australian.

Pratt is an embarrassment to the AFL because, while he remains in charge at Carlton, the commission itself brings the game into disrepute by not moving to have him replaced.

All this effectively voids the league's code of conduct to be introduced next season, which covers all players and club and league officials.

Any player or official who the commission deems to have brought the game into disrepute can be suspended, fined or banned.

If the AFL was to apply the code to a player who made a nuisance of himself with police after spending too long drinking at a nightclub yet not act on Pratt, it would be a thumping case of a code that was being implemented arbitrarily and irrationally. At the very least it would appear to be a code that picks and chooses its offenders unfairly and with bias.

Of course, Pratt's removal would be a loss for football but one that it must demand. Pratt is a successful businessman and enriches our community.

The Visy website says this of the company's charity work: "The Pratt Foundation has distributed millions of dollars to many grateful beneficiaries, large and small, ranging across the spectrum of Australian life. There is scarcely a major charitable cause which does not appear in the list.

"More importantly, there are many examples of small, relatively modest charitable bodies, which carry out vital but largely unrecognised community work."

Pratt is one of several major issues confronting the AFL. Tonight the Kangaroos hold their information night for members regarding the move to the Gold Coast. James Brayshaw's cheerleaders within the media say he has a financial plan that will secure the club's future vigorously and in the long-term. Let's hope Brayshaw can deliver, for many Kangaroo souls will be crushed if the club is forced to relocate.

It is the preferred position of the AFL that the Kangaroos go north and it has staked $100m to ensure the move is successful.

In Pratt's case, no doubt they just hope he goes.



*************************************************************


pratt's in deep dogie poo.....if i know the two women on the afl commission....and i do know them....one a bit better than the other......they will want pratt's stench long gone.......tough titties for fonzie that pratt was one of his former benefactors in business...won't save the cheat..........

[Eastern]

Let's do the maths !!

It is estimated in Court documents that Visy (Pratt) ripped off corporate Australia in the vicinity of $740Mill

Visy (Pratt) was fined $36Mill

That leaves approx $705 in illgotten gain. More than enough to throw a few $Mill around to a few charities and still have plenty left !!

[stinger]

yep...a few pple have mentioned that before...when you toss in the millions he also ripped off from the kiwis..it's easy to see why he is one of the richest men in aussie......

[saintsRrising]

Satus quo has been restored...the Blues had a reasonably ethical business man as President for a little bit....and they could not handle it...

They did not know how to act or what do do...

Now that the status quo has been restored and they once again have a crook as President they are back in their natural ease......


Once again all is ill in the Blues world...and they are at ease....it is their natural order of things.

[stinger]

[barks4eva]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

[supersaints]

PRATT , the name speaks for itself really, is anyone surprised ???

[supersaints]

: 'Prat' is well known and commonly used in the UK to describe someone who is being stupid about something - as distinct from someone who may be permanently mentally slow. Origin? I don't know, but it's only been in use in this sense since the 1960s.

[sainterbrad]

i agree....

[Megamaguire]

[quote...... It's all over now baby blue. Bob Dylan.

Bob always was ahead of his time and will be recognised as doing it again with these fateful words.


G O B O B D Y L A N!

G O S A I N T S !

[stinger]

: 'Prat' is well known and commonly used in the UK to describe someone who is being stupid about something - as distinct from someone who may be permanently mentally slow. Origin? I don't know, but it's only been in use in this sense since the 1960s.

...he could be related to b4e then......



no...pratt...as in ..you little prat......was a common school saying by seniors to juniors even in the fifties......

[SENsei]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

Because all Labor people are cleanskins are they? Fair dinkum.

Normie Gallagher
Paul Mullett
Joan Kirner
John Cain
Andre Hairdryer
Mark Latham
Neville Wran
Carmen Lawrence

Some very upstanding citizens there. Making stupid decisions is not confined to the Liberal party. Pratt has f***ed up. So have many businessman before him. So will many after him.

Liberal, Labor, Democrats, Greens, Nationals. Stupid people will always do and say stupid things, regardless of their voting strategy.

Look at you for a case in point.

[plugger66]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

Your problems continue even after I organised help for you. You need another session or 3.

[St Fidelius]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

Because all Labor people are cleanskins are they? Fair dinkum.

Normie Gallagher
Paul Mullett
Joan Kirner
John Cain
Andre Hairdryer
Mark Latham
Neville Wran
Carmen Lawrence

Some very upstanding citizens there. Making stupid decisions is not confined to the Liberal party. Pratt has f***ed up. So have many businessman before him. So will many after him.

Liberal, Labor, Democrats, Greens, Nationals. Stupid people will always do and say stupid things, regardless of their voting strategy.

Look at you for a case in point.

Yep top post.

[stinger]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

Because all Labor people are cleanskins are they? Fair dinkum.

Normie Gallagher
Paul Mullett
Joan Kirner
John Cain
Andre Hairdryer
Mark Latham
Neville Wran
Carmen Lawrence

Some very upstanding citizens there. Making stupid decisions is not confined to the Liberal party. Pratt has f***ed up. So have many businessman before him. So will many after him.

Liberal, Labor, Democrats, Greens, Nationals. Stupid people will always do and say stupid things, regardless of their voting strategy.

Look at you for a case in point.

look ...i have basically been ignoring the barbs directed at the libs by ill informed ignorant socialists...

but i have had just about enough of it......

neville wran...and paul keating for that matter......came out of and were part of the sewer that was the nsw right wing of the labor party...

.the right employed contract killers and standover merchants..tommy domican for starters...and a guy who went missing named chris flannery..

....who would ever forget the beating handed out to a left wing alp member who wouldn't toe the line...peter baldwin was his name...you might remember seeing his bruised and battered face on the news.......you have never even heard about more than the tip of the iceberg of what these these arseholes were up to...and i am not including keating here..

corruption on a huge scale...illegal casinos, prostitution...sp bookies ...you name it...anywhere there was a dollar to be made from the mugs...you and me...these bastards were copping a brown envelope....

whilst i have no reason to believe keating was involved, i would mention arsewipes like richardson and lionel murphy who thought the taxpayer should foot the bill for his vip joyrides over canberra whilst he banged junie morosi......


if i ever started i wouldn't stop...and this site would get closed down...after making the front pages.....

[JeffDunne]

I'll take a thief that steals from the rich over parasites that dine out on privilege any day of the week.


I'm with Andrew on this one - Liberals are scum.

[St Fidelius]

I'm with SEN on this, there are scum on both sides and it's not restricted to just one party, if you believe that then you are a fool IMO

[JeffDunne]

Don't disagree St Fid . . . but I prefer my scum didn't moralise while having their snouts in the trough.

[stinger]

I'll take a thief that steals from the rich over parasites that dine out on privilege any day of the week.


I'm with Andrew on this one - Liberals are scum.

but then so are the alp...

[saintspremiers]

Another lying cheating, LIBERAL, Carlton president

Elliott, Collo, Pratt all as corrupt as each other and by no mere co-incidence all filthy liberals

Howard's mate's, which is hardly surprising

Got nothing to do with Howard or Liberals barks.

Take some more medication

[Eastern]

I think we should adopt a new forum rule;

NO CHAT ABOUT RELIGION, SEX OR POLITICS


hold on.......

Would that mean the forum would become a blank screen? !!

[stinger]

well..here's a thought..we could try talking about football......bit revolutionary...but worth a try all the same...we might even find some common ground...as long as we avoid coaches, previous coaches, ex presidents and ruck stats.......

[ctqs]

Let's do the maths !!

It is estimated in Court documents that Visy (Pratt) ripped off corporate Australia in the vicinity of $740Mill

Visy (Pratt) was fined $36Mill

That leaves approx $705 in illgotten gain. More than enough to throw a few $Mill around to a few charities and still have plenty left !!

Maybe not. He's being sued by a truckload of his customers for about that amount. So to quote Mike Williamson as Malcolm Blight lined up from the half-forward flank at Princes Park in 1976: "It's not over yet. It is not over yet."

[Eastern]

well..here's a thought..we could try talking about football......

I think that falls into the category of RELIGION !!

[Eastern]

Let's do the maths !!

It is estimated in Court documents that Visy (Pratt) ripped off corporate Australia in the vicinity of $740Mill

Visy (Pratt) was fined $36Mill

That leaves approx $705 in illgotten gain. More than enough to throw a few $Mill around to a few charities and still have plenty left !!

Maybe not. He's being sued by a truckload of his customers for about that amount. So to quote Mike Williamson as Malcolm Blight lined up from the half-forward flank at Princes Park in 1976: "It's not over yet. It is not over yet."

So........Nothing left for Carlton ? Watch them dump him like a chytty rag !!