Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a matter which is dear to many sports lovers in my electorate of Bradfield and across Sydney's North Shore as a whole. The North Sydney Bears played their last season in the National Rugby League in 1999. The Bears were formed in 1908. They were one of the foundation clubs in rugby league. For decades they were a powerhouse in the competition, supported very widely across the North Shore and beyond. Even today there is very strong support for the Bears in northern Sydney and certainly in my electorate of Bradfield.

Today I join with many other voices who are calling for the North Sydney Bears to be readmitted to the National Rugby League. There are 17 teams in the NRL today. Allocating an 18th license to the Bears makes very good sense for several reasons. First, bringing back one of the original teams with a history of iconic players over the decades, like Greg Florimo and Ken Irvine, will be seen as a highly appropriate move by all who love rugby league. Second, it will strengthen the NRL by adding a new team which has strong support across a large and presently unrepresented part of Sydney. Third, it will add to the competition a club which does excellent work in our local community, building participation and giving opportunities to both junior and senior players.

Earlier this year I met with Bears Chairman Daniel Dickson and Chief Executive Gareth Holmes to discuss this work. The Bears have an impressive feeder program, which includes the Asquith Magpies. There are many Magpies players who come from Bradfield and from the neighbouring electorate of Berowra. Their licensed club, Magpies Waitara, located in Waitara in my electorate, is an important and much loved community institution, where many locals enjoy the chance—at very reasonable prices—to eat and drink, to be entertained and to connect with others. The record shows a considerable number of top-level league players got their start with the Asquith Magpies, including former State of Origin player Mitchell Pearce, New Zealand international Kieran Foran and the Bears' own 1970s halfback Kevin Wilson.

If the Bears return to the NRL it will have flow-on benefits for community sport on the North Shore and will over time foster a new generation of rugby league representatives from the North Shore. A fourth reason to bring back the Bears is their exciting plan to expand the rugby league footprint. They're ready to take on an additional territory beyond their north Sydney and North Shore heartland. The Pacific is a rugby league powerhouse, and the Bears' re-entry to the NRL could be part of a new push to provide even stronger connections between the Pacific and Australia, with the Bears standing ready to provide additional support and opportunities for rugby league in the Pacific.

We know that sport brings committees together, and the return of the Bears would be a great way to bring back the North Shore rugby league identity. In turn, this would help further strengthen community spirit on the North Shore, including in my electorate of Bradfield. For all of these reasons I'm very pleased to be standing up in our national parliament to say: bring back the Bears.