Motions

AFL National Women's League

Adjourned debate on motion of Ms Hildyard (resumed on motion).

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:48): Before this, females were playing more for fun, for the social side of the sport, as playing division 1 football in the women's state league was the highest level a player could reach. Other than representing South Australia at the annual carnival event, now women have a much bigger aim, something further to strive for, a prestigious sport in the women's AFL. Early this month, I watched the AFL exhibition match between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval. It averaged 387,000 television viewers in Melbourne, beating the best Saturday night viewing average match of the AFL in 2016 between St Kilda and Geelong of 347,000 viewers. The interest is certainly there.

Last year, participation in South Australian women's football teams reached the highest on record, surpassing targets set by the AFL. The AFL had set the South Australian National Football League a target of starting 10 new women's teams in 2015, with 16 new teams introduced into the SANFL Girls Competition as well as one new team in the South Australian Women's Football League. Participation numbers continue to swell and, in the 2015 season, the SANFL Girls Competition gained 180 new registrations, bumping its total to 290 female players here in South Australia. The AFL is aiming to have 500 female teams nationwide by 2019.

In 2015, there were 163 new women's teams across Australia and more than 318,000 total female participants, with the AFL forecasting 250 new women's teams across the nation in one year. When announcing the women's competition, AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said:

The establishment of a national woman's league will provide a platform to inspire young girls to reach for the stars and provide another avenue for fans of Australian football to enjoy. Our game will never be the same.

I note there have been some pay concerns among the women's AFL players, and that is something that will continue to play out, but it was reported that the AFL Players Association rejected the league's proposal to pay most AFL women players $5,000, those with priority signings $10,000 and 16 marquee players a $15,000 playing contract plus a $10,000 marketing component. While the union signed off on the marketing payment to its marquee players, it is seeking an increase to all playing fees.

One of the major opportunities with the new women's league is for Adelaide Oval to host the grand final. In fact, I would love to see the Adelaide Oval host a grand final. For too long, we have seen Melbourne hold the AFL's grand finals and it is a tradition that I do not see being broken any time soon. However, we have the opportunity to push for the Adelaide Oval to host the inaugural women's league grand final here, if not in the near future.

I recently wrote to the AFL Chief Executive, Gillon McLachlan, urging him to consider Adelaide hosting the 2017 women's grand final. We have seen the popularity of women's football and I am confident that fans will flock to see the nation's two best women's football teams. We have the backing for hosting a women's league finals series by the Crows CE Andrew Fagan, the SANFL Stadium Management Authority and the Crows marquee player Chelsea Randall, to name a few. I received a response from Mr McLachlan, and it reads:

I write in response to your letter seeking to have the Adelaide Oval considered as a venue for the AFL's national women's league Grand Final.

Planning at this stage for the AFL women's competition is centred around holding matches in conjunction with the NAB Challenge and/or the opening of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership season.

As these fixtures are not yet finalised, the AFL has not yet considered a venue for the Grand Final of the national women's league. The best day and time to showcase the women's Grand Final will also be an important factor in determining the appropriate venue.

As you correctly pointed out, the AFL is extremely pleased with the growth and participation in South Australia and the development of the top end talent over the past 12 months.

There is great confidence within the AFL that the Adelaide Crows women's team will be highly competitive in the inaugural season and the football loving fans of South Australia will get right behind their team.

Thank you again for your correspondence...

So we have registered the interest in the AFL and it will be great to see if we can get the AFL women's grand final to Adelaide Oval. Wouldn't that be a joy?

It is not just Aussie rules football that has seen increases in female participation. The annual 2015-16 National Cricket Census has shown that cricket in South Australia had an 18 per cent rise in female participants from the previous year, with 25,484 females playing some form of cricket. As we all know, the Strikers Girls' Cricket League launched this month on the back of record numbers of girls participating in cricket here in South Australia over the past 12 months.

Last year, Roy Morgan Research revealed that, in the 12 months to November 2015, more girls were playing soccer than netball. The elite sports pathway is becoming even more available for women and girls in South Australia. It is extremely encouraging and the future for women's sport with increasing participation numbers in South Australia is looking brighter than ever. I do congratulate the government on putting $10 million into female facilities. It is a great initiative, but I would like the member for Reynell to give a little bit of credit where it is due.

For a number of months, I had been pursuing the issue of inequity of the women's change room facilities in South Australia. We know that there is inequity at Hindmarsh Stadium. The Lady Reds are having to collect their bags from the corridor after a game and catch a bus to the Entertainment Centre to change and to shower. It is just unfathomable that that would happen. With the West End 36ers and the Adelaide Lightning, we see that the changing facilities are absolutely inadequate, and it is so right across the board.

They are the sorts of issues I have been addressing, as has the member for Reynell, but obviously being in opposition does not give us the platform to go out and grab the media spotlight on that issue. I would like to mention that the women's task force in South Australia is a good initiative. The only thing missing with the women's task force is the opportunity for a bipartisan approach. There has been no approach to the opposition to be a part of it, to support it, to push it along. Sadly, that is the way the government seems to run. The Minister for Investment and Trade has not offered one element of bipartisanship in the trade portfolio. It is very sad to see.

But, overall, women's AFL is coming and I urge every South Australian to be a part of it. Go and have a look at it. Do not knock it until you have seen it. Congratulations to the Adelaide Crows Women's Football Club and may you have a successful 2017 season.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (15:56): I will not speak for too long, but I want to second the words of the member for Reynell by supporting this motion, support women's football in South Australia and across Australia and particularly the AFL for establishing the national women's football league, which is being established at the moment and will come into being next year. I personally am very delighted, as a very proud Adelaide Football Club member and supporter, that the Adelaide Football Club was successful in gaining one of the eight licences for the women's league. They put in a very strong bid between South Australia and the Northern Territory.

It will be fantastic for football in South Australia and for the Adelaide Football Club to have this women's team in the national competition. It is worth noting some of the fantastic players the Adelaide Crows have already signed up to be part of the team. They include Chelsea Randall, Kellie Gibson, Ange Foley, Courtney Cramey, Jasmine Anderson and Erin Phillips. Erin Phillips, of course, is a basketballer at the moment and has been an Olympic basketball player as well. This will be a fantastic team. We are yet to see the draft, so we are yet to see the full team that Adelaide will put on the field, but the coach is Bec Goddard, who I think will do a fantastic job.

In terms of women's sport, I second those who are pushing for better equity in terms of payment for those women athletes. There have been a lot of comments in terms of the payment of not only AFL players but also netball players and others. Netballers have recently negotiated with their union, the Australian Workers' Union, for a better deal for netball which is very fair and we will continue to see stronger demands for better pay and conditions for people who play AFL football as well. It is also worth noting that we need to improve our grassroots support for women's football. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.