AFL executive salaries are ‘indefensible’: Former commissioner takes aim at head office

August 15, 2026 — 5:30am

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Colin Carter messaged Sonja Hood after she received a copy of his new book as a diplomatic spoiler alert, warning the North Melbourne president that she might not enjoy his published declaration that the club’s refusal to relocate to the Gold Coast or Tasmania was “regrettable” and a missed opportunity for both the Kangaroos and the competition.

Hood accepted Carter’s message with good grace while pointing out she strongly disagreed. Carter also asserts that a Victorian club relocation should remain on the AFL’s agenda and that despite 25 great years from the mid-1970s, North has been a “mediocre performer” for most of its history, condemning itself to an ongoing national search for a secondary market.

Recently departed AFL chairman Richard Goyder has not yet been sent a publisher’s copy of Carter’s book, but he, too, should be warned. Carter questions both the commission’s governance and its impact during Goyder’s tenure. He asks whether awarding the lucrative grand final rights to the MCG until 2059 – a further blow to the fixture’s fairness – was a management proposal waived through Goyder’s commission.

And he states the game’s governors “went too far” when they agreed with Goyder’s proposal to keep AFL executive salaries secret. Clearly referring to several years under the stewardship of Andrew Demetriou and Gillon McLachlan, Carter told this masthead that it was “indefensible” that an AFL CEO earned more than $3 million in a year when the best paid player earned less than $1 million.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has read the book and was contacted for comment.

The 16-year AFL commissioner and decade-long Geelong president has written several books and key strategic documents that shaped the modern game; notably the independent AFL Commission in the early 1990s, the rebuilding of the Great Southern Stand and the return of VFL members to the MCG.

Bill Kelty describes Carter as one of the “fathers of the modern AFL”. This makes his bird’s-eye view of the game’s recent history and his not-always-subtle suggestions for........

© Brisbane Times