Statement on Nankivell nomination

Hawks For Change is disappointed by the decision of the Hawthorn Football Club Board to reneg on commitments made to members. 

The Board's decision to do away with proper process and nominate current Vice President Peter Nankivell as the Board endorsed candidate for Club President is flawed, failed and wrong. 

Thanks to the work of Hawks For Change’s thousands of supporters, all Hawthorn members were promised an independent Nominations Committee, led by premiership player Andy Gowers. 

The Committee's job was to find the best candidate to lead our Club successfully into the future - on and off the field. The job for the Board was to endorse their recommended candidate. 

Acting in good faith, Hawks for Change took the Board’s representations about the role and composition of the Nominations Committee at face value.

However, the Board instead decided to appoint Mr Nankivell to Chair the Nominations Committee, then decided to endorse Mr Nankivell as its preferred candidate, without any meaningful regard to the process it had promised to members. 

We are deeply concerned about the continuing implications for good governance, transparency and accountability brought by this conduct. 

Indeed, as Chair of the Board's own Governance, Risk, Integrity and Compliance Committee, Mr Nankivell should have known better. 

We have had fresh change on the field, and we need fresh change off it. The nomination by the Board does not deliver this. As the current Vice President and a member of the Board for the last 8 years, Mr Nankivell has worked hand in hand with the current President and played an active role in recent failures of governance, culture and decisions like the $900,000 sacking of Alastair Clarkson. 

Hawks supporters are sick and tired of how the Club's Board is run. We deserve a democratic voice in how our Club is governed. We want a Board that keeps its promises. 

When Hawks For Change formed, our founding ambition was to restore members' rights to elect our Board and bring positive change to our great Club.

Without Hawks For Change, there would not have been a contested election in 2021 and Jeff Kennett would still be at the Club next year. 

Despite these major achievements, there clearly remains work to do, including to enshrine proper governance and democratic process for the Board. 

We remind the Board and all Hawthorn supporters that three Board seats and the Presidency are up for election at this year’s AGM in December. Hawks For Change is actively considering our approach to these elections.