Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the last two Saturdays in the Northern Territory we've been privileged to host three fixtures of the AFL. In the first game, last Saturday week, Richmond defeated Essendon in an entertaining clash at the TIO Stadium in Darwin for an historic Dreamtime clash. The inaugural Dreamtime game in the Northern Territory featured a build-up befitting an enormous occasion, which it was. Both Richmond and Essendon have enormous support in northern Australia. There was a musical performance by Yirringa Yunupingu, followed by a powerful welcome to country from Richard Fejo, representing the Larrakia people. I recommend you watch this online.

The Tigers are a very popular team in the Northern Territory, due largely, in the first instance, to the playing career of Maurice Rioli, the winner of the Norm Smith Medal in 1982, and, of course, Michael Long played 190 games for the Bombers and won the 1993 Norm Smith Medal. In the second game, also in Darwin, Carlton had a comfortable 33-point win over the Gold Coast. Last Saturday, though, there was a game in my home town of Alice Springs, at Traeger Park, where we hosted Melbourne and St Kilda in a thriller, which favoured the Demons by three points.

What was important about the three events in Darwin and Alice Springs was the engagement with the local community and the importance to the local community of having the games in those places. They are very widely supported. The AFL is central to the lives of many in the north.