Andrew Gowers.Credit:Getty Images
Hawthorn presidential candidate Andrew Gowers says the club’s board had “thrown the women to the wolves” in deciding to make Katie Hudson and Anne-Marie Pellizzer stand at the election while extending football director Richie Vandenberg’s tenure by one year.
All three board members were elected for three-year terms in 2019,but under league rules clubs are allowed to extend the tenure of a board member in certain circumstances to ensure more than 40 per cent of the board was not up for election at one time.
Gowers’ comment came as he hit back at claims made by Jeff Kennett in an opinion piece for News Corp that those running against the board-endorsed candidates wanted to take Hawthorn “back to being a boys’ club”.
“I not only refute that claim but would draw our members’ attention to the fact that this year three board members were up for election,Richie Vandenberg,Katie Hudson and Anne-Marie Pellizzer. They had to extend one of those director’s term by one year under an AFL rule and they chose Richie Vandenberg,the only male,” Gowers said.
“The president Jeff Kennett and the vice president Peter Nankivell and the board decided to roll over the one man and in doing that threw the women to the wolves.”
As the war of words continued to escalate,Gowers said he wanted members to know he was voting for Maria Lui,the chair of the Hawks Foundation,who he said had emerged as a candidate via a robust nominations committee process led by board member Ian Silk,as well as backing James Merlino and Ed Sill for the three vacant positions.
“Diversity is not just a male and female thing. Diversity is about differences of opinions,ideas,cultural backgrounds,religious views,which creates a melting pot of contributions which allows you to safely have a broad discussion about a range of topics,” Gowers,a Hawthorn premiership player,said.
Lui toldThe Age it was up to the members to decide who had the best skill set to serve on the board and she hoped candidates were elected on that basis,however she was endorsing Peter Nankivell.
“He has got a good track record and has been involved in many important club projects ... he deserves the opportunity to see this through as the club is at a very important juncture and needs stability,” Lui said.