As Minister for Sport, protecting the health and wellbeing of participants in sport from doping is of the utmost concern.
I recognise the Essendon Football Club doping issue has been a difficult time for many involved and that the investigation has been the subject of extensive legal and other scrutiny.
This has included consideration by the Federal Court and full bench of the Federal Court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
As Minister for Sport, under Australia’s anti-doping legislation I have no role in the conduct of anti-doping investigations and I also must respect the decisions of the courts.
In recent times material has been supplied to my office by members of the public regarding concerns about the conduct of the investigation into doping at the Essendon Football Club.
I have also taken note of the material reported in the Herald Sun on 24 February 2017.
After review and due consideration, and in light of the exhaustive review processes already applied to this matter, the Department has advised that there is no new or substantive information in the material supplied that would justify a further investigation. I have accepted that advice.
The Federal Labor Party also supports this position and on Wednesday during Senate estimates, Senator Don Farrell said his party was not convinced a Senate Inquiry was necessary.