Lawyers for Lara respond to the AFL investigation . . is this soap becoming more sudsy than a Warnie spa ?

This is a verbatim media release issued at 6.03pm Saturday evening and sent from the office of Lara Bingle's manager/agent, Max Markson.
Fix yoursef a drink, or something . . . .



"MEDIA RELEASE – LARA BINGLE’S LAWYERS RESPOND
• The Chief Executive of the AFL criticised us yesterday as Lara Bingle’s lawyers for being unco-operative with the AFL investigation into Brendan Fevola’s conduct.
• We have today sent the AFL two statutory declarations verifying Lara Bingle’s complaint.
• Since the AFL wants to conduct their investigation in public, we now call on the AFL to release to the public those statutory declarations, Brendan Fevola’s statement and the email correspondence with us since they started their so-called 'investigation'.
• Lara Bingle did not take the photo, did not keep it, did not circulate it and did not publicise it – and in these circumstances the AFL still demanded that she make herself available to a tape recorded interview by their investigator.
• It is not surprising that we have acted to protect Lara from this interrogation by the AFL when she has been subjected to two weeks of one of the most disgraceful and unprecedented attacks on character in this country.
• It was completely insensitive and oppressive for the AFL to pursue her in this manner at this time.
• She is not the one under investigation and she made her complaint publicly and clearly this week in a national women’s magazine. Further, since the AFL refused to accept her public complaint, we made the complaint on her behalf to the AFL. We became very concerned when the AFL would not even accept the complaint we made on her behalf before they proceeded with their investigation.
• The AFL have no right to criticise her or us while we are seeking to protect her legal rights.
• The AFL needs to look at themselves. They have a clear conflict of interest. They are attempting to investigate something, which they have an inherent self interest to protect – their image and reputation.
• The AFL's policy on the treatment of women recently announced should dictate that they are extremely sensitive to someone in Lara’s position.
• We call on the AFL to refer the investigation of Brendan Fevola to an independent body or person, preferably a woman, such as a judge or senior counsel.
• The AFL have have confirmed to us that they have spoken to Brendan Fevola on the phone, apparently with his coach and CEO present. They have not released that statement to the public or us, despite wanting to keep the public informed that Lara Bingle was not co-operating. Any inference that she only wanted to speak 'off the record' as if she had something to hide is false and mischievous.
• The photo speaks for itself. It is incomprehensible to suggest that the photo was taken with consent, that Lara would agree to it being kept on a mobile phone, having no control over where it would end up – and inevitably it has ended up in the national media and now worldwide.
• The public should keep in mind that this was a young woman at 19 years of age who clearly did not want a photo taken of her in the shower or for it to be kept or sent around by anyone and everyone.
• We have a right of action in this country, perhaps not recognised as a right of privacy (although there are plans to bring that in through Parliament for good reason), but there is an action for breach of confidence – confidential information of this very kind. The Victorian Court of Appeal recognised this last year and awarded substantial damages.
• Normally in cases of this kind the victim will demand an apology from the media and compensation for the harm suffered. The apology, if given, is often buried somewhere in the publication and not noticed by the public and the compensation paid confidentially.
• Here Lara Bingle has taken the opportunity to put her side of the story as quickly as possible in the most prominent place in the same magazine that published the photo wrongfully in the first place. She was paid for that statement as she would be as if compensated by the magazine. She will donate some of that money to the White Ribbon Foundation, an organisation which seeks to protect women from violence.
• The public should take a step back and realise how much Lara Bingle has been maligned this past two weeks, initiated by the release of a photo that should never have been taken, and leave her alone to deal with the damage that has been done by people who should have known better and treat her (and women in general) with dignity and respect.
• Finally, we are not seeking publicity by this media release. This is intended to be a response to the publicity sought by the AFL for its investigation. It is intended to address serious matters that needed to be said for the record.
Patrick George, Managing Partner and Rebekah Giles, Partner "