Geoff Ablett (born 13 March 1955) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s, and later a local government councillor and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate for state office, who was found by an anti-corruption investigation to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a controversial property developer in exchange for favourable planning decisions.

Football career

Ablett spent the majority of his career with Hawthorn, playing 202 games on the wing. Ablett finished with short stints at Richmond and St Kilda. His younger brother

Gary Ablett Sr Gary Robert Ablett Sr. (born 1 October 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "God", Ablett is widely regarded as one of Australian football's greatest ...

is a

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee. A third brother,

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

, also played for Hawthorn, Richmond and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. Geoff Ablett was known for his burst of speed as player, winning the

AFL Grand Final Sprint The AFL Grand Final Sprint is a sprint running race contested by AFL players as part of the on-field entertainment on the day of the AFL Grand Final. The sprint was held each year from 1979 until 1985 and again in 1987 (when the league was known a ...

competition four times.

Politics and anti-corruption investigation

In December 2008 an
2013
Ablett was elected mayor of

City of Casey The City of Casey is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Casey is Victoria's most populous municipality, with a 2021 population of 365,239. It has an area of . The city is named afte ...

Council, one of Victoria's biggest councils. Ablett was the unsuccessful

candidate for the

Electoral district of Cranbourne Cranbourne is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located south-east of Melbourne and includes the suburbs of Botanic Ridge, Cranbourne, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne West, Junction Village, as well as parts of ...

at both the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 Victorian state election The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incum ...

. Ablett was a councillor at the City of Casey when it was dismissed in 2020. This dismissal of the council followed an investigation by the Victorian

Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) is Victoria's anti-corruption integrity agency with jurisdiction over the public sector. It does this by: * investigating serious corruption and police misconduct * informing the pu ...

into “allegations property developer John Woodman paid City of Casey councillors in exchange for favourable planning votes.” The hearing heard that Ablett “received more than $300,000 from Mr Woodman”, including “$5,000 a month to look after” a racehorse that Mr Woodman was a part owner of. Mr Ablett responded that racehorses “are very expensive to keep.” In July 2023, Ablett was named as a key figure in IBAC's Operation Sandon report. He was found to have promoted local developer John Woodman's interests on council in exchange for payment, having 'received more than $500,000 in payments and other financial benefits from Mr Woodman between 2010 and 2019.' Mr Woodman also made donations to Ablett's campaigns when he was the Liberal Party candidate for Cranbourne in 2010 and 2014.

Personal life

Ablett is the brother of AFL legend Gary Ablett. His son Ryan, who was once rookie listed at Hawthorn, died in 2009 at the age of 27.

Statistics

:Geoff Ablett's player profile at AFL Tables
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1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 7 , , 0 , , 5 , , 71 , , 8 , , 79 , , 17 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 10.1 , , 1.1 , , 11.3 , , 2.4 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 25 , , 20 , , 29 , , 364 , , 81 , , 445 , , 65 , , , , 0.8 , , 1.2 , , 14.6 , , 3.2 , , 17.8 , , 2.6 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 22 , , 14 , , 19 , , 304 , , 43 , , 347 , , 60 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 14.5 , , 2.0 , , 16.5 , , 2.9 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 23 , , 11 , , 22 , , 365 , , 55 , , 420 , , 58 , , , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 15.9 , , 2.4 , , 18.3 , , 2.5 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 24 , , 8 , , 15 , , 395 , , 78 , , 473 , , 75 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 16.5 , , 3.3 , , 19.7 , , 3.1 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 25 , , 15 , , 21 , , 354 , , 91 , , 445 , , 62 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 14.2 , , 3.6 , , 17.8 , , 2.5 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 16 , , 11 , , 24 , , 231 , , 67 , , 298 , , 46 , , , , 0.7 , , 1.5 , , 14.4 , , 4.2 , , 18.6 , , 2.9 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 19 , , 16 , , 23 , , 274 , , 96 , , 370 , , 66 , , , , 0.8 , , 1.2 , , 14.4 , , 5.1 , , 19.5 , , 3.5 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 17 , , 19 , , 23 , , 273 , , 62 , , 335 , , 43 , , , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 16.1 , , 3.6 , , 19.7 , , 2.5 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 2 , , 24 , , 21 , , 26 , , 360 , , 131 , , 491 , , 89 , , , , 0.9 , , 1.1 , , 15.0 , , 5.5 , , 20.5 , , 3.7 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 4 , , 5 , , 8 , , 8 , , 70 , , 21 , , 91 , , 15 , , , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , 14.0 , , 4.2 , , 18.2 , , 3.0 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 4 , , 11 , , 4 , , 9 , , 146 , , 25 , , 171 , , 31 , , , , 0.4 , , 0.8 , , 13.3 , , 2.3 , , 15.5 , , 2.8 , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 11 , , 6 , , 10 , , 187 , , 31 , , 218 , , 38 , , , , 0.5 , , 0.9 , , 17.0 , , 2.8 , , 19.8 , , 3.5 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 229 ! 153 ! 234 ! 3394 ! 789 ! 4183 ! 665 ! ! 0.7 ! 1.0 ! 14.9 ! 3.5 ! 18.3 ! 2.9 !

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ablett, Geoff 1955 births Living people Geoff Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club premiership players Richmond Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen