Maverick politician makes explosive cocaine allegations about Melbourne Demons coach Simon Goodwin

Andrew Wilkie has sensationally accused AFL executives of “covering up” Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin’s alleged cocaine use.

Federal MP Wilkie made a series of explosive claims in parliament on Tuesday night after receiving a signed statement from former Demons chief doctor Zeeshan Arain in which he admitted testing for illicit drugs “outside the records”.

He also claimed that clandestine drug testing was facilitated by the AFL.

As part of his lengthy statement to parliament, Wilkie reflected on Dr Arain’s testimony and made a point about the AFL’s alleged handling of concerns raised by former Melbourne chief executive Glenn Bartlett about the alleged Goodwin’s use of cocaine.

“Two things are obvious,” he began.

“The first is the cavalier way in which AFL executives discussed Mr Bartlett’s concerns about Goodwin’s alleged cocaine use, which is reflected in this statement signed by Mr Bartlett where he says he believes executives of the AFL and others made efforts to cover up Mr Goodwin’s alleged cocaine use, specifically concealing his concerns about alleged drug use for up to 18 months.

“It seems to me that this is well explained by Mr. Bartlett’s testimony, where he states: Everyone knew my views on this issue and that, as a labor lawyer, I would have taken appropriate steps to address the alleged illegal behavior and would have refused to resort to turning a blind eye.

“The second thing that stands out to me is that Mr Bartlett made it clear to Mr Goyder and Mr McLachlan that he planned to address cocaine abuse at his club at all levels, including the executive level, and, eight weeks later, Mr Bartlett was unexpectedly booted from the AFL, even though he had recently been asked to serve as president for three more years. I’ll say it again.

“The highly respected president of the Melbourne Football Club, Glen Bartlett, was sacked by the AFL just eight weeks after a meeting with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and AFL president Richard Goyder, where he suggested that the AFL executives to undergo mandatory drug testing.

Responding to the wider allegations surrounding his football club and the AFL as a whole, Goodwin insisted he was not aware of any potential scandals.

He called the allegations “new to me” and said he had “no line of sight” into the alleged clandestine evidence provided by the league.

“All clubs are now interested in finding out more information,” Goodwin told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’m sure that’s something that is taken for granted throughout the competition and we are one of those (clubs).

‘Every person in the club world would want answers and understand how the policy works and if it is a success. We are no different than that.

“We’ve been through a bit (as a club) but this is AFL policy and we will ask the appropriate questions and get the answers we need.”

“I have no idea about the former doctor or where he is,” Goodwin said.

‘This is new information and this (illicit drug policy) has been in place for a long time.

‘This is AFL policy. It has nothing to do with our doctor, our former club doctor; “This is something that affects the entire AFL.”

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon confirmed on Wednesday that urine testing has been part of illicit drug policy “for some time”.

Goodwin said the allegations would not cause him to doubt the information he receives from the club’s doctors, insisting he has “never questioned anything” about players withdrawing from matches.

“When you start digesting the information they give you, you take it at face value,” Goodwin said.

“This is a process that the AFL, AFLPA and club doctors put together from a confidentiality perspective, so having no line of sight is not unusual.

“But I have enormous confidence in our doctor, in terms of them being able to do their job, so I’m not going to question how they go about their business.”