AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Andrew Demetriou

Speech to National Press Club, May 2011

Thankyou. And thankyou for inviting me to speak here at the National Press Club. It’s fair to say it’s been a big few months for the AFL and the game of Australian football. Not only have we seen some cracking footy but we’ve witnessed the dawn of the , who this week will play for their first game at the new Metricon Stadium. And of course just a few weeks ago we announced a landmark broadcast agreement that will change the way the game is watched right across Australia. Despite all of this, I’ve learned it’s wise never to get ahead of yourself. And I was reminded of it again in a Sydney café recently. After ordering our coffees, the owner of the café wandered over, looked at me and said: “I know you. You’re that bloke from the AFL. Alex Demetriou.” At least it’s better than some other names I get called. In thinking about today, the temptation was to focus on our broadcast deal and the size of the game. To talk numbers. Yes, more than seven million people attended AFL matches last year. Yes, there are now more than 750,000 people participating in our game and 615,000 people, or one in 36 Australians, are members of AFL clubs. And yes, Australian football now generates nearly $4 billion in economic activity and employs the equivalent of more than 10,000 people. These are all impressive numbers but at the end of the day they’re just numbers. They’re not what’s really important about our game. As Eddie McGuire said at the AFL season launch this year, we are all involved in this game because at some stage we fell in love with a team, a player or the game itself And the game became a part of our life. As the son of migrants growing up in the back of a fish ‘n chip shop in Coburg, I know exactly what Eddie means. Footy gave my brothers and I – and so many kids from migrant families - a chance to connect with new friends and new opportunities. It gave me a sense of community. It gave me a sense of belonging. It also gave me the sort of opportunities my parents could only dream of when they left Cyprus in the hope of giving their children and their children’s children a better life. Someone once asked me how I would describe our game. I like to think of Australian football as a great democratizer. A game for anyone and everyone. A game that is inclusive, accessible and affordable. A game that does not discriminate. A little while ago I took an overseas guest to the football. As well as remarking how tough the players were and asking why they didn’t wear padding, he also commented on how many women and children there were watching the game. And how they all seemed to get along together. There was no violence. Not even any abuse towards each other. Obviously it wasn’t a Collingwood game. But it reinforced to me that footy is a great meeting place. Every week it brings diverse groups of people together from across the community. People from a range of backgrounds but with a common passion for the game. People don’t come to our game because they want to impose their values on it. They come to our game because of its values. I was again reminded of it when the recently hosted a number of newly arrived migrants at its game against the Gold Coast. Afterwards, a Chinese woman remarked how she’d never felt more connected to the community and Australian culture than she did sitting among the Bomber faithful. She said: “It’s just the best thing I have done since coming to Australia”. It was a similar experience for Jamie Pi. Jamie is a young Chinese man who came to Australia with his parents when he was 13. He still remembers his first day at school and suddenly finding himself playing footy in the schoolyard. That he couldn’t speak a word of English didn’t matter. He was communicating in a language just as powerful as English or Chinese. The language of sport. And in his case, Australian football. Jamie has since helped start his own Asian football team in called the Southern Dragons. Last year he called our first ever AFL game in China. Ali Faraj is forging a similar path in the Muslim community in western Sydney. He’s started his own club called the Auburn Tigers and wants other young Muslim men and women to play too. It’s one thing that Jamie and Ali are helping us to take football into their communities. Just as importantly they’re bringing their cultures into the AFL and helping us understand the similarities and differences. As much as football is making a difference in their communities, they are making a difference in ours. If we are to truly grow our game, we need to constantly hold a mirror to ourselves and make sure we are reflecting the community around us. It’s the same with Majak Daw, the young Sudanese born player now on North Melbourne’s rookie list, and Emmanuel Irra, a 17 year-old Ugandan now playing for Woodville in . Exciting young players who bring to the game more than their talent on the field. Young men who also enrich the culture our game. A game which needs them more than they need us. The same goes for indigenous players. You’d all be aware of the some of the great names like Michael Long, Andrew McLeod, and just to name a few. Great players who’ve not only brought their great skills, determination, commitment and flair to our game but also given us an insight into their culture. And enriched the culture of the game at the same time. Look at our Indigenous Round just gone. 83,000 people watching Dreamtime at the G. ’s sensational mark. Buddy Franklin’s six goals. Ten per cent of AFL players are now indigenous. While it’s something we can be proud of, it not enough simply to have more indigenous people playing our game. As Andrew McLeod said in his address to the United Nations earlier this year, indigenous people must also be represented across the football industry. Represented at board level in AFL clubs and represented in AFL coaching ranks. We have to improve the pathways so Indigenous players can have the same opportunities to excel off the field as they do on it. To coach. To administer. To influence. To lead. Just imagine Andrew McLeod coaching a team the way he played. Or Adam Goodes. Or for that matter. Some see the AFL as simply a sport. Others see it as simply a big business. The reality is that we are, and need to be, more than just a sporting competition or a business. We are also a not for profit, community and cultural organization that must take a leadership role in the community. Despite what some may think, the biggest highlights of my time as CEO of the AFL have not been signing broadcast agreements or watching grand finals at a packed MCG. One of my proudest moments as CEO was the Peace Team which played in the 2008 International Cup. Everyone thought it was ludicrous idea to bring Palestinians and Israelis together and send them halfway around the world to play a game they’d never heard of. But the Peace Team worked. In fact it was great success. Muslims, Jews and Christians put aside their differences and came together as one team. The sight of coach Robert DipierDomenico being translated firstly into English and then simultaneously into Arabic and Hebrew, was a sight to behold. It was another wonderful example of how sport can act as a vehicle for social change. It was the same feeling I got when the MCG was transformed into a sea of pink for Field of Women to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Or when the AFL staged a match with the Mildura community in 2007 in the wake of the crash which killed six teenagers. All sport, whether it is Australian football, rugby league, rugby union or soccer, not only brings people together and gives them a sense of belonging and connection but also gives them pathways and opportunities. It’s the same with sport in our schools. Just this week we’ve seen another study that found 10 year-olds are finding it harder to do basic exercises like sit ups and even walking up stairs. In my view this is completely unacceptable. Sport not only promotes physical activity and helps tackles the growing incidence of childhood obesity, it also has important psychological, educational and social benefits. But it’s too often neglected in too many schools because of too few teachers and failing facilities. In deciding how to allocate finite resources, schools often are forced to put sport last. The AFL believes every primary school in Australia should have a specialist physical education teacher so children can enjoy the benefits of healthy and active lifestyles from a young age. Instead of trying to appease interest groups by banning soft drinks in school and advertising of fast food, governments should be investing more so children can play sport and develop good habits to take with them through their lives. Investing in programs in schools as well as indigenous, multicultural and women will be a key priority for the AFL as part of our five year plan to grow the game. This is one of the great benefits of our recent broadcast deal. Not only will it deliver better reach across Australia but the financial return enables us to reinvest into the game to ensure it remains strong. As well as our players and clubs, we are committed to investing in our volunteers, state leagues, Auskick, and community facilities so the game remains strong at all levels. The AFL also wants to ensure supporters continue to enjoy a world class experience through access to the very best stadiums. And the game remains affordable. We want to show our faith with those people who’ve kept faith with us and the game. We will also continue to invest in our programs such as Respect and Responsibility and better education for our players across all levels of the game. Some have questioned why we invest in these programs. The reason is simple. A sport as big as ours cannot shirk its responsibilities to be a leader in the community. Our obligation is to not only produce first-class athletes but young men - and women - who make a valuable contribution beyond the football field. It’s true that many of these programs have been born out of acute pain. This was certainly true of both our Racial and Religious Vilification policy and our Respect and Responsibility program. We needed to lift our game and we have. And as far as we’ve come, we still have some way to go to change the attitudes of some people, especially towards women. That we’ve been able to invest in these programs is because of decision taken more than 25 years ago to establish the game’s first independent commission. This set in place the foundation for the future of our game but also ensured that all decisions are made with the long term interests of the game in mind. From this base, we’ve been able to build a game that is better financed, more professional, with better players, bigger crowds, and broadcast on more platforms to help deliver bigger returns that can then be invested back into the game. The role of government has been critical. Without the support of government at all levels and of all persuasions, we could not have embarked on the most comprehensive stadium redevelopment program in this country’s history. As well as Gold Coast, over the next few years we will see major stadium upgrades in Sydney, Melbourne, and hopefully Perth. This investment in spectator comfort and safety has seen an increase in the number of families – particularly women and children – at our games. Governments of all persuasions and at all levels have supported these projects because they also make economic sense. They build jobs and tourism. For example, this weekend 5,000 Victorians will travel to the Gold Coast to see Geelong play the Suns at Metricon Stadium. Indeed, it’s estimated that AFL will contribute $34 million in annual economic activity to the region – most of this into non- AFL related business. Importantly, these news clubs are also helping build a sense of community. A sense of belonging. This connection with community is critical as we continue to expand our game and take it to new frontiers. Next year we will establish our 18th AFL club in Greater Western Sydney. We know it will be challenging. It even may take a generation to truly succeed. But we are optimistic. We know Greater Western Sydney has two million people, and for many of them English is a second language. It’s one of the country’s most culturally diverse regions, with a burgeoning indigenous population. We believe the story of this community in many ways represents the AFL community. Yet some critics say that cultural diversity is why an AFL team can’t work. I look at the diversity of Greater Western Sydney and see exactly why it can. And I’m delighted the GWS Giants will play 40 games here in Canberra over the next ten years. Already more than 5000 people here in the ACT have signed up as members. I want to thank the ACT representative on the GWS board, Peter Taylor, and his team for all their hard work to achieve this. There will always be critics. There will always be doubters. With more than 1500 accredited media, our game generates enormous debate. Every rule change is hailed as the death of the game but the game simply refuses to die. It’s the same with expansion. We were told the would never be a success. Then they won a premiership. We were told Brisbane would never work. They went on to win three premierships. In a row. Every decision we make is based on detailed analysis and research. We take a long term view and have learned not to be panicked or deterred by those who oppose change. Sometimes it’s easy to be distracted by the headlines. It’s harder to plot a course, communicate the case for change and take the critics with you. But even as we embark on new challenges like the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, more challenges present themselves. Over the coming decade we must meet the challenges of delivering comfortable, affordable and exciting entertainment in an increasingly crowded market place. What will our game look like in 2020? Do we want more teams and if so, is it from Tasmania? A third team in Western Australia or Queensland? How do we continue to attract the best athletes to our game? Not just from Australia but from across the world? How do we engage the growing number of migrants from China and India and attract them to our game? How do we make our game relevant to a 10 year-old Muslim girl? How do we reach our target to have one million participants and one million people belong as members of AFL clubs? These are very bold and ambitious targets but given the growth of our game over the past five years we believe that one million participants and one million AFL club members can be achieved by 2016. I know this job won’t last forever. When the day finally comes to hand over to someone else, I want to be able to say that I left the game in better shape than I found it.

Not just for our children but for their children and the generations to come. And we have to make sure the game remains just as special for them as it did for us. That its magic never dies. As Eddie McGuire said, we must never forget the joy football brings into the hearts of so many people right across this country. Particularly young boys and girls. If you’re ever in doubt, next time you’re at an AFL game look into the eyes of a young fan next to you. You might just see yourself and remember how you too fell in love with the game. We must never forget the importance of rituals in our game. Writing in the Sunday Age earlier this year, Melinda Houston said this: “Call it a community, call it a tribe, call it an obsession. In a society that’s increasingly fractured, footy brings us together. Riding the train to and from the game you make eye contact with other passengers wearing your team’s colours. You strike up conversations with strangers. “At home in front of the box you know that hundreds of thousands of other people like you are leaping out of their chairs – or sinking abjectly into them – with every freakish mark or fluffed disposal. Being an Aussie Rules fan means never being alone.” It’s an apt description of the enduring power of our game and what it means to Australia. Long may it be so. Thankyou.