Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On 28 September 1954 the then member for Gellibrand asked the Prime Minister, Mr Menzies:

In view of the importance of fitness in sustaining the national morale of our youth, and in view also of the outstanding importance of the national code of football to the maintenance of fitness and morale, will the Prime Minister consider inviting to Canberra, Australia’s champion Australian rules football team—Footscray?

Sixty-two years later, I rise to repeat the invitation to the Prime Minister to invite the champion Western Bulldogs to Canberra.

I know the Prime Minister is a fan of the Sydney Swans, I know from 3AW that he honours the flag day and night, but I ask him not to let personal loyalties interfere with this decision. The Dogs did not just beat the Prime Minister's Sydney Swans, they also beat the foreign minister's West Coast Eagles. They also beat the member for Grayndler's Hawthorn Hawks. They also beat the member for Warringah's Greater Western Sydney Giants. So there might be a bit of incentive there.

Circumstances beyond the Dogs' control prevented them from beating the Leader of the Opposition's Collingwood Magpies or the Speaker's Carlton Blues, but that is something we can sheet home to the Dogs. I know the Prime Minister could learn a thing or two from super coach Luke Beveridge about uniting a team after a change of captaincy and forging them into a match-winning unit, something they can learn.

Footscray is more than a club in Melbourne's west, it is a community and we have been celebrating for the better part of two weeks, since the last game. So go on, Prime Minister, do as we say in Footscray: be more bulldog, invite the champion Western Bulldogs to parliament and learn a thing or two about leadership.

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