Richard Pratt President's Address
President’s Function
Carlton v Collingwood, MCG, Sunday April 13th

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to this afternoon’s blockbuster between Carlton and Collingwood.

Carlton and Collingwood . . . the mere mention of the two names in the same sentence has always ignited passions in people.

The rivalry – some would say hatred – between these two teams is the stuff of sporting legend.

But personally I have nothing against the Magpies . . . in fact I have them to thank for some of my fondest memories . . . 1970 . . . 1979 . . . 1981;  and today it gives me great pleasure to mention that our special guest David “Swan” McKay is the only man in Carlton’s history to have played in three Grand Final victories over Collingwood.

I would also like to welcome Collingwood’s President Eddie McGuire along today, as well as our other special guests.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when I first agreed to take on the Carlton Presidency with the goal of helping to turn the Club around, I made a personal policy.

I would keep out of the day-to-day running of the Club; leave the talking to Greg Swann and get on with the job of turning the Club around. But the continuing malicious inaccuracies in the media about my ongoing role have compelled me to make a public statement today.

For the record, not one member of the AFL Commission or Administration has contacted either me or any official of Carlton questioning my tenure.

In fact, when I raised the issue with Andrew Demetriou, he told me on many occasions that my position with this Club is a matter for this Club alone.

And yet for reasons not entirely clear, media reports persist that the AFL is embarrassed about my Presidency of Carlton.

As I have said publicly on many occasions I apologise for the impact of our actions relating to the ACCC case.

I am aware of the uncertainty and anxiety this created on many people.

I am ultimately responsible for the actions of the complete Visy organisation and I regret not moving quicker to put in place systems and procedures to ensure this never happened.

Not knowing this was the case is no excuse and I have paid the fine of the ACCC and have now installed a new Advisory and Governance Board to ensure it never happens again.

So I challenge the AFL to set the record straight for once and for all.

If they have a problem with me staying on as President of the Carlton Football Club let them come out and say so.

If they don’t have a problem, let them be unequivocal about it then put the matter to rest.

As I have said from the outset, the only reason I accepted the Presidency was because the Club asked for my help.

I didn’t seek to become President of Carlton.

I’m not doing it for personal gratification.
I don’t need the profile, I have no political aspirations and I have more than enough to do with my business activities.

I accepted the Presidency because I was asked to help by the Members and I will only stay as long as the Members wish me to.

I don’t care whether the media thinks I should or shouldn’t stay on as President, but I do care very much what the Carlton Members think.

For me it is a privilege to serve Carlton and I will continue to serve the Club as long as the Members want me to and my health, my family, and my other commitments allow.

Anyway, that’s enough said on this matter.

Today Carlton and Collingwood meet for the 236th time with history showing an almost 50/50 split of wins and losses for each team and very shortly we will be welcoming the 2008 Carlton players onto the ground to do battle with their traditional rivals once more.

Please enjoy the game.