Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about football in Tasmania. Northern Tasmanians should acknowledge that the AFL are trying to kick North Melbourne out of Victoria. But I firmly support Hawthorn playing five games in Launceston. It has proven to be a great boost for our community in Northern Tasmania. We should, however, have discussions with Hawthorn and the AFL to ensure that games do not clash with community Aussie Rules, to enable more spectators to attend AFL games. This could be achieved by Hawthorn playing Friday and Saturday night games or Sunday games at Aurora Stadium. We do need to improve facilities at Aurora Stadium to hold 25,000 people.

Wasting our time fighting 200,000 southern Tasmanians, the Australian Cricket Board, the AFL and the major southern councils, who are all making financial contributions to get North Melbourne to Hobart, seems to me to be misdirected. I call on Tasmanian businesses and local councils in Dorset, George Town, Northern Midlands and West Tamar to support the Launceston City Council, the federal government and the state government with our regional facility.

The AFL are an undemocratic, autocratic organisation and they have chosen to kick North Melbourne out of Victoria. We Tasmanians should focus on making the financial viability of Hawthorn in Launce­ston a huge success. I call upon the AFL to work more constructively with football bodies in Tasmania for the betterment and development of the great game of Aussie Rules.

See this speech in context