Opinion Jeff Kennett News, Media etc.

[BobHawk]

Reads to me as though he's apologised to Gillon, but not to anyone else. Odd tweet.

He doesn't mean it and doesn't really want to apologise. The fact that he used Twitter rather than send out his preferred means of communication (letter/email to members) says it all. He is up to his neck in the current right wing ideology and culture wars. He is not fit to be president.

 

[Rushed_Behind]

What if we generalize a profession instead of a race?
Speak to security guards, and at least 90% are new Australians.

Funny thing is a bloke who is a security guard at the footy wasn’t at all offended by Jeff’s comments and said it was true that majority of security at the footy were of middle eastern origin and new arrivals.

Everyone has walked a different path and faced different challenges so everyone’s opinion of what is offensive is different.

Jeff’s comments are racist but I doubt there was malice in it. He has been a massive advocate of immigration and multiculturalism.

Forums like this reinforce to me I can’t control how people feel and how they view things. All I can do is respect their opinion.

 

[Rushed_Behind]

He doesn't mean it and doesn't really want to apologise. The fact that he used Twitter rather than send out his preferred means of communication (letter/email to members) says it all. He is up to his neck in the current right wing ideology and culture wars. He is not fit to be president.

Here it is.

 

[BobHawk]

Here it is.

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[Mississippi]

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during the conversation today between Gil and Jeff.
Jeff has the same Myers Briggs personality type as Donald Trumpff. They like to dominate and don't like backing down - and most definitely hate losing face.

So after doubling down this morning on his racist comment, his apology via twitter this afternoon is extraordinary.

 

[Rushed_Behind]

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Everything you’ve posted has been balanced except for that bolded part quotes.
I’ve probably gone about it the wrong way but I just don’t like when politics are brought into an argument/opinion.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

So is Jeff racist or did he just make a racist comment

Sometimes people don’t even know when they are being casually racist.

Jeff falls into that category.

As a mouthpiece for our club he still needs to accept when he has said the wrong thing, even if he’s not realized it until he gets a tap on the shoulder.

Glad that he apologized today for his use of words, but it really shouldn’t have taken 24 hours to say “oh sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, sorry if i’ve Caused any offense”.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

What if we generalize a profession instead of a race?
Speak to security guards, and at least 90% are new Australians.

Unless you have facts to back up don’t make generalisations about races. Pretty basic rule.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I judge the likelihood that someone is good at basketball by their height. Does that make me heightist?

 

[BobHawk]

Everything you’ve posted has been balanced except for that bolded part quotes.
I’ve probably gone about it the wrong way but I just don’t like when politics are brought into an argument/opinion.

Well, that's fair enough but my issue with Kennett as president is that he is political and he does his rounds in the media too. He doesn't do it to represent the club but he does represent something. I know it is not for me to say what he does but it bothers me quite a bit that he does segments with the toxic Mark Latham on national TV. Latham makes a living out of being "outspoken" and then defends himself with the politically correct world gone mad thing. Most people that know Mark Latham wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

Back to yesterday. Kennett let slip in public. It was a slip, not an error of judgement or anything else because nobody does the "I'm not racist but.." unless they are that way inclined. As such, I do not think that he is fit to be president. He is political and he has shown signs of being mired in the whole dumpster fire sweeping across Europe, the US and here in Australia since he returned to the club.

 

[Rushed_Behind]

Well, that's fair enough but my issue with Kennett as president is that he is political and he does his rounds in the media too. He doesn't do it to represent the club but he does represent something. I know it is not for me to say what he does but it bothers me quite a bit that he does segments with the toxic Mark Latham on national TV. Latham makes a living out of being "outspoken" and then defends himself with the politically correct world gone mad thing. Most people that know Mark Latham wouldn't touch him with a barge pole.

Back to yesterday. Kennett let slip in public. It was a slip, not an error of judgement or anything else because nobody does the "I'm not racist but.." unless they are that way inclined. As such, I do not think that he is fit to be president. He is political and he has shown signs of being mired in the whole dumpster fire sweeping across Europe, the US and here in Australia since he returned to the club.

Fair enough.

 

[Maybloomer]

Well, it seems Jeff has got his way regarding the new arrivals and the AFL has replaced its security staff. They gathered for a photo today

 

[KermitJagger]

The context surrounding Jeff doubling down is more around the contention of the statement he made. He did not believe it to be racist which I truly believe. The contention was that people who do not understand football may not best be suited to work in it.

The thing is that the wording was poor and showed bias engrained from age and social status. He got caught up in believing he was correct and missed the problems with how he asserted it.

That said, I don't think he should be responsible for the uglier parts of society that have supported what he said in a racist manner.

The only thing that bothers me is that he's doing it while being president of a footy club. Though he's been disruptive before, I enjoyed it because there were no McGuire-esque gaffes. This is a McGuire gaffe. Kennett needs to take a back seat for a while.

 

[Flukey!]

With Jeff, we all know by now what we get with him.
Some weeks he makes us cringe and other days we are cheering him as he gives the AFL a backhander.

He made a mistake, he aplogised (Which he would have hated) we move on.

He only ever wants the best for our club.
I think that is pretty clear.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I do agree, we have to take the good with the bad.

 

[The German Hunter]

I am not a racist and by no mean say this to offend anyone.
This country has gone *n mad. It’s not racist if his stating a fact. The officers are new to the country and haven’t grown up with the game. There was No offence made in the comments.
Jeff can put his foot in his mouth although this political correctness has gone so far that it’s at a point of no return.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I am not a racist and by no mean say this to offend anyone.
This country has gone ****n mad. It’s not racist if his stating a fact. The officers are new to the country and haven’t grown up with the game. There was No offence made in the comments.
Jeff can put his foot in his mouth although this political correctness has gone so far that it’s at a point of no return.

And we know this how? By looking at them?

 

[The German Hunter]

And we know this how? By looking at them?

Come on mate, it was in the article on Foxsports

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Come on mate, it was in the article on Foxsports

What was in the article on fox sports?

That it was a fact all the security guards are new Australians? I don’t think so.

 

[Hawk Hawkins]

Next time you say something this stupid Jeff, I’m going to Stratton you.

 

[Off The Couch]

What if we generalize a profession instead of a race?
Speak to security guards, and at least 90% are new Australians.

Kennett - “sure there was a need for increased security with a focus on crowd control but it was also important that all security staff got a very clear brief and extensive training on what is acceptable behaviour and what is not, as not everyone is a fan or even aware of the tribalism behind our great game”

See how simple that was and I’m no former Premier or current spokesperson for Beyond Blue or President of the most successful football club of the last decade.

 

[The Chad and I]

Those security guards are doing exactly what they have been TOLD to do.
Security guards are often at odds with the culture of the paying public for an event, because of their role - crowd control - not because of their ethnic backgrounds and cultures.

You see this at concerts all the time.

While there is often a one-off incident, when a pattern of behaviour is evident, I can assure you, that tenor of behaviour is almost always influenced by the briefing they get from management and supervisors prior to the event.

 

[BobHawk]

I want to make a very simple but important point because I am seeing quite a bit of deflection here on behalf of Jeff Kennett. Don't fall for the political correctness line. People in politics and the media have been using this as a way of deflecting criticism when they have been pulled up for saying stupid things or attacking minorities. This has been done over so many years now and not just by politicians but by large sections of the media that it has sadly become just a reflex action for many people. At the more extreme level it morphed into "freedom of speech" after a certain Newscorp journalist tried to use it as a defence after being successfully sued by some indigenous people over an article he wrote. Unfortunately, I think Jeff Kennett has become a part of this media circuit (some would say circus) and my concern is that these people's values in no way align with the club's. When Kennett was first appointed president he promised he would stay out of the media. It was not entirely successful but he tried. This time he seems to have free reign and has been pushing the boundary for the past couple of years and it has creeped into his role at the club. What happened yesterday was, in my opinion, inevitable. The sum of all this is that I do not believe he can do both and I am surprised the club has let him carry on. I look forward to hearing from the club because I don't think the matter is closed. At least I hope not.

 

[The German Hunter]

What was in the article on fox sports?

That it was a fact all the security guards are new Australians? I don’t think so.

Seriously?
The guy who ran on the field to stop a wrestle, pretty sure that’s a first. That sounds like someone who knows the game.
You can twist it anyway you want to turn it into racism and call me out, that’s your prerogative, end of the day I’m still happy to say it’s political correctness gone bananas.
You can’t mention a ethnic race without worrying if you’ve caused offence.
I have grown up around racism my whole life and don’t condone it or the naive people like Jeff, although this time I believe it has been blown completely out of control.




Now where is my white hood

 

[Maybloomer]

Those security guards are doing exactly what they have been TOLD to do.
Security guards are often at odds with the culture of the paying public for an event, because of their role - crowd control - not because of their ethnic backgrounds and cultures.

You see this at concerts all the time.

While there is often a one-off incident, when a pattern of behaviour is evident, I can assure you, that tenor of behaviour is almost always influenced by the briefing they get from management and supervisors prior to the event.

Spot on. I bet Gil is breathing a sigh of relief that Jeff’s comments have caused a nice deflection from the real issue.
I don’t give a bugger if the security was Eskimo or Amish, if they were 2nd generation Aussies or still suffering jetlag. They were employed and instructed by the AFL to do a job and by jingo, they did it well - OK, Mr Hobart a little too well but don’t blame the security guys. This is all AFL