Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Hansard source

Last Saturday about 4,880 people turned up at Traeger Park in my hometown of Alice Springs, Central Australia, to attend a football match between Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons—one of the AFL-scheduled matches played in the Northern Territory. For the record, Melbourne, unfortunately for them, fell shy of Port Adelaide by 61 points. But the real winner of course, as always, was the community of Central Australia. Those almost 5,000 people travelled from all parts to attend this football game and enjoy the experience of Traeger Park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

The local football club, the Alice Springs Redtails, forged close links with Port Adelaide, with Port undertaking to assist the Redtails in developing a governance structure and a concise business plan whilst also giving Redtail players an opportunity with a preseason game against the Port Adelaide SANFL Magpies.

I said many people came from all over, and they did—they came from northern South Australia, from the Pit Lands, the Ngaanyatjarra Lands and from as far as Kintore and Nyirripi in the west. The Nyirippi residents were particularly prominent at the ground. For the Nyirippi residents to attend this game they had to travel a 500-kilometre return journey on a dirt road, their community being 440 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. They were conspicuous by their presence at the southern end of Traeger Park. They are 100 per cent Melbourne Demons supporters and formed a cheer squad decked out in the red and blue colours to rival any other AFL club.

People of all ages in Central Australia appreciate when a big-city event comes to town, whether it be the footy or a major concert—it is exciting; it creates a buzz. For the youngsters, the opportunity to have a kick, handball or photo opportunity with Melbourne players like Jesse Hogan, Jeff Garlett, Jake Spencer, Heritier Lumumba or Nathan Jones, or Port players like Jay Schulz, Angus Monfries, Justin Westhoff and Chad Wingard, to name just a few, is a dream come true. I know that the mums and dads and the entire AFL fraternity of Central Australia enjoyed every moment of the weekend. Melbourne's Christian Petracca, along with fellow Demon Jack Trengove, conducted a clinic with 200 school-aged children in the Hermannsburg committee, 130 kilometres west of Alice Springs. He summed it up when he said:

Giving back to these people is something I will hold quite close to my heart. It really is something special. … It is good for us to see a different part of Australia.

Congratulations to all involved. Thanks to the AFL, the Port and Melbourne clubs, the NTFL Central Australia, the Alice Springs Town Council, the countless volunteers and all those people who came from across Central Australia to attend this great game.

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