Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Congratulations to the member for Gilmore. That was a good speech on a very important issue. I rise today because Tasmania has always punched above its weight when it comes to Australian Rules Football, the only real football game in this country, not that run-and-fall-over game with men looking like brick walls when they play in New South Wales and Queensland. There are names like Hudson, Baldock, Croswell, Lynch and Richardson, just to name a few. They are champions who have come from the island state to dominate the great game. This is a game that, unfortunately, does struggle to accept that Tasmania and its people have played a huge part in making the game what it is today, and we still do not have our own team. That is not what I rise for today. That is an argument for another time.

Today I want to bring forward another injustice done to Tasmanian supporters and, in particular, a fellow in my electorate called Kim Crawford. Kim is a humble Tasmanian, a former schoolteacher and now respected real estate agent and football lover who lives in the south of Tasmania in a beautiful little area called Carlton Beach in my electorate. Kim, in his own time, developed the current AFL finals system back in the late 1990s, in the days of the disastrous McIntyre system, which had left the AFL looking to improve its final eight. Why was the system flawed? Adelaide won the flag in '98 despite losing the first final. They should have been out. Kim developed the system back in '94. The AFL introduced his system in 2000 but it has not recognised his contribution to its finals system. It has not recognised that Kim Crawford developed the final eight system, and Kim deserves this recognition. He is not looking for money, he is not looking for fame; all he is looking for is the recognition that he is behind this system that the AFL uses. It is long past time that the AFL recognised this.

Just recently, I wrote directly to the AFL CEO, Mr McLachlan, requesting confirmation and acknowledgement, but still there has been nothing. Kim has written to clubs that acknowledge that he is the architect of the final eight system but, of course, they are subject to the AFL and the official recognition is still wanting. Again, he is not looking for money or fame, just recognition that he is the architect. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Kim Crawford on this matter, as does every Tasmanian. The AFL should come forward and do the honourable thing—not hide behind its big corporate doors and flash lawyers—and recognise Kim Crawford.

On a final note, I would like to thank the Evandale Football Club. I will be launching the women's Eagles jerseys on the weekend. I am a proud sponsor of women's AFL football and look forward to playing my part in developing that great game.

See this speech in context