Yet another stuff-up by the Australian Labor Government.
It would seem that Federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy and Federal Justice Minister Jason Clare have presided over, either one of the most appallingly constructed investigations of all time, or the most baffling "witch hunt" that has ever been perpetrated on the Australian public and the world.
It's been almost two weeks now, since John Lawler, CEO of the Australian Crime Commission, released their report on sports corruption with great fan fare and accusation. Aided and abetted with great indignation and chest thumping by Ministers Lundy and Clare.
Yet now it founders, with the federal police, by their own admission, with little or no evidence to investigate, and sports administrators, players and more importantly fans, in a state of bewilderment with Australian sportsmen and women being branded around the world, as possible sports cheats with links to match fixing.
Still no charges are laid or even evidence produced, Yet this political grandstanding is overshadowing the launch of our summer football codes and casting a pall over our cricketer's tours to India and England, the most important and exciting tours for many years.
I'll tell you how it looks from where we fans and punters sit. It looks as though the politicians have once again decided that, for the sake of a headline and a photo op, they would treat their constituents as gullible mugs who'll believe anything, and then they duped some incompetent public servants into jumping without a parachute, in the hope that they could flush out a criminal or two in an election year, with the Government on the ropes.
It would seem that the Crime Commission has come up with some unproven, hearsay evidence connecting organised crime and a very small minority of sportsmen, and have decide to go on a fishing expedition by encouraging sportsman from all codes to confess to ambiguous accusations, instead of doing the hard yards and collecting proof and evidence, and the politicians have encouraged them to their own political ends, in the process sullying the good name of Australian sport both in Australia and across the world.
All this without consideration of the consequences to a sports proud nation in having our pride in Australia's good name in world sport diminished, before any evidence is produced or anyone is convicted.
The media too have jumped on the band waggon when they smelt blood, but quickly changed sides when it started to show all of the hallmarks of a farce. In the last two days they have gone quiet on the issue. I would hope that they would stalk Lundy, Clare and Lawler aggressively, until they have come up with proof and charges or until they resign.
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