Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have some good news today. After 34 years, just a few weeks ago the Mitcham Football Club in division 3 of the Eastern Football League broke the drought and won the grand final—their first flag, as I said, in 34 years. They had an outstanding 16-2 regular season. They went into the finals as favourites and they absolutely delivered, defeating The Basin. They also won in the reserves. I want to pay tribute to the committee; they have really worked hard to rebuild this club and the fruits of their success were seen a few weeks ago. I commend President Matt McCubbin, Dane Wilson, Brian and Michelle Lucas, Julie Searle and the countless others at Mitcham Football Club who work tirelessly to make sure that they are a successful club. I also want to pay tribute to the Junior President, Craig Giles, and a man I have worked very closely with, Gavin Ward. They have worked extraordinarily hard to make sure that the junior club is feeding through those outstanding players that have led to the success that the Mitcham Football Club have seen.

I am very proud to have been a sponsor of this club over a number of years and I look forward to continuing that as they move into division 2 next year. With the recruitment that I know is happening in the off-season, I think they could give it a shake in division 2 as well. So congratulations Mitcham Football Club.