Blues extend voting rights recognise games Indigenous origins

Carlton plan to rewrite their constitution to recognise women and First Nations people, and to drastically expand the number of members who can vote in a club election by giving their AFL members a vote.

The move will be put to a vote at a general meeting on August 17 but outgoing club president Mark LoGiudice said he would be amazed if the members did not support the changes.

A presentation made to Syd Jackson by Blues president Mark LoGiudice earlier in the season. Credit:AFL Photos

”I would be flabbergasted if they didn’t want to approve any one of these. I would be blown away,” LoGiudice said.

Critically, Carlton will allow adult AFL members with a full club support package to vote in elections and bring the model into line with modern membership packages.

A letter outlining the proposed changes will be sent to members on Monday.

Under the moves LoGiudice has crafted with fellow board member Chris Townshend QC over the past 18 months, the club will also abolish the requirement for a board member to have been a club member for at least two years before joining the board.

Collingwood was heavily-criticised this year for bringing Bridie O’Donnell on to its board, given she had not been a member for the requisite time to allow her to immediately be a voting board member.

When Essendon appointed Dorothy Hisgrove to their board earlier this year, the club acknowledged that although she was a Bombers member at the time, she had previously supported Collingwood and the club considered a different perspective an advantage. Hawthorn have had board members who had not been members of the club for two years when they joined.

“You need to bring in the best people to govern the football club and it really shouldn’t matter [if they have been members for two years],” LoGiudice said.

The club will also alter the term limit requirements pertaining to presidents to permit them to serve five years, even if that extends beyond the 12-year cap on serving on the board. This would theoretically allow a president in their 11th year to become president and continue serving for five years.

“Just so we are very clear here: this has got nothing to do with me. This is not for me. This is my final year, but constitutions exist to govern clubs for a longer time, I want to make this right and get them in place because these are important changes,” LoGiudice said.

“[At] the last AGM we said we would fix [voting rights] because there were a lot of grey areas around who could and could not vote. What we are doing is clearly identifying those fully-paid members, including AFL members with club support, that can vote.”

“You need to bring in the best people to govern the football club and it really shouldn’t matter [if they have been members for two years].”

Outgoing Carlton president Mark LoGiudice

The Indigenous recognition in the constitution recognises the role of First Nations people in the formation of the game and acknowledges the traditional owners of the land.

“These are changes we believe are well overdue, given the community expectations, and it is just the right thing to do,” LoGiudice said.

“The two biggest points when I say well overdue is recognition of our Indigenous community, so Indigenous recognition in our constitution and gender recognition.

“Constitutions are the DNA of the footy club and in our DNA there’s two things that we haven’t recognised, is our Indigenous community and we are properly rectifying gender recognition.

“So it is recognition of all our female athletes, supporters, and members which we haven’t had in the past. It corrects all the gender references in the constitution.

“And it is not just about the Indigenous players - it is about the traditional owners of the land and the contribution of the First Nations people to the formation of the game.

“This is not just about Eddie Betts.

“We think we are the first club to do this. I am not aware of anyone else who has done this. I have not gone through every club’s constitution, but I believe we are the first.”

LoGiudice said he was eager to get this completed before his term as president ends this year.

“This was important to me to fix,” he said.

“I guess I have been driving this with Chris Townshend over 18 months, knowing this was going to be my final year, and we wanted to get this done. It is an important piece of work that needs to be finished.

“I have been very focused on the off-field of the football club, getting the AFLW licence, we are now debt free, we are no longer an assisted club of the competition, the master plan is under way, we have a fully-funded redevelopment of ICON park, or we have $47 of the $50 million sitting there to develop and it is actually happening.

“I would love for us to have won a lot more games, but we sit back and think I have left it a better place. The finals will come, the premierships will come, [but] we have re-established the foundations of the business.”

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Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.

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