The press has been grossly irresponsible – not least the front page of The Age today.  Jonathan Horn said parts of the press have been ‘reptilian’.  It is full of pious utterances about oppression said to have been practised by one large group of the community.  Since we know hardly anything about events of interest to the police, I will only mention two matters.

First, the issue of breach of AFL rules about conduct unbecoming is very different from the issue of whether the conduct involved a breach of the criminal law – and will be dealt with under very different rules.  The players have conceded that they breached the rules, as I understand it, by bringing women to their rooms as they did.  On that inquiry, the behavior of the women does not matter.  Indeed, the rule is there because the behavior of the players can lead to this kind of dispute.  But the behavior of the complainant will most likely be in issue in any criminal prosecution.

Secondly, it appears from The Age today – reporting based on unnamed sources – that the police have been told that the players had been drinking and two women were invited to their hotel sometime after 2am.  There is only one complainant.  ‘Her official version of events, which involves an act of touching beyond what was agreed, will form the basis of Victoria Police’s ongoing investigation’.  A second source said ‘five players were in a room with naked women, with one performing lap dances….Heeney, who was clothed, was the subject of the complaint.’

I will leave comment on the forensic issues to those who practise in this part of the law, and as an eighty year old father of two daughters, I will  refrain from expressing any view on the events so described.

For all I know, the players might see themselves in a position like that mad old king who thought he was a man more sinned against than sinning.

And the Governor General might keep her views to herself.  On the advice of which Ministers did she enter a fray which would be far beneath the dignity of the Palace?