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AFL team would ‘unify’ state: Eslake
Saul Eslake
A Tasmanian AFL team would unite the north and south of the state, economist Saul Eslake says.
Mr Eslake was a member of the former Labor government’s AFL steering committee, which was tasked with campaigning for a Tasmanian team in 2008.
Mr Eslake said it had been the AFL that had held Tasmania back from securing a team, treating the state with “Something that borders on contempt”.
“Because football is so widely and passionately supported in Tasmania, the AFL seems to take the view that there is no upside, financially or otherwise, for the AFL in locating a team here, compared with the potential gains that they see in colonising parts of Australia which do not have the same historical tradition of supporting AFL,” Mr Eslake said.
In February, outgoing AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick claimed that Tasmania had not received a team due to the perceived rivalry between the north and south of the state.
Mr Eslake said the economic impact a Tasmanian AFL team would have on the state would be significant.
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