The Northern Territory AFL team business case claims the team will help ‘close the gap’ for Indigenous Territorians, but Dr Don Fuller argues the proposal raises high financial and social risks with a relatively low return to the community, and it is clear the AFL should provide the bulk of the funding if it wishes to expand the national competition, given its exceedingly large and ever-expanding resources.

“I love Australian rules but the AFL machine I encountered concerned me.”

Award-winning investigative journalist Michael Warner wrote that line at the start of his 2021 best-selling book The Boys Club, about his experience of reporting on the politics of the nation’s biggest sporting competition, the AFL.

“The national competition is controlled by a ruthlessly entitled Melbourne-based executive, given close to free rein by a commission that long ago lost its oversight or will to intervene,” he wrote.

“The AFL is characterised by a lack of transparency and accountability in decision making, jobs for the boys, bullying and a string of blatantly compromised ‘integrity’ investigations have become hallmarks of the AFL administration, since the rise of Andrew Demetriou and his successor, Gillon McLachlan.

“Such an accumulation of bad decisions and behaviours presents a disturbing picture. They are not one-off events but a structured pattern of behaviour. There is no independence or due process in the AFL’s procedures. Worse, decisions are often made out of personal hostility and enmity – because they can be.

“…The purpose of this book is to shine a light on almost two decades of questionable conduct; a system in need of reform. The AFL’s cosy relationships with governments, politicians, regulators and sections of the media must also change.”

Warner summarises the feelings and experiences of many toward the AFL, and gives a sobering perspective in light of the pitch by an arm of the AFL, the AFLNT, to win a licence for a Territory team, at an initially vast, and then ongoing cost to the taxpayer.

And, as we will see, Warner’s own professional experience, along with the accounts he presents from former senior administration figures at the highest level of Australian rules football, match the experience of former senior Territory football figures since the Melbourne-based AFL took over the game locally, and match accounts from football’s grassroots level down south.

This is a management and administration of football in urgent need of reform, and one Territorians should be wary about with its promises to ‘close the gap’ through having a local team, but without spending its own money, despite its huge revenues.

Much of what the AFL relies on to pitch for the taxpayer to fund the expansion of its top tier into the NT is based on rubbery figures without explanation of the modelling they rely on, a public image of an organisation that is morally and ethically superior, when it is demonstrated to be the opposite, and using Indigenous disadvantage and magical thinking about the potential impact of the game broadly on those very people, to help sell it to the politicians who dish out the cash.

And is it just the AFL increasing its grip on NT football, to get what it needs, more of the (mainly) Aboriginal players it produces, and the right to say it is Australia’s only truly national competition, but put cynically so that it is funded by ordinary Australians?

The roots of NT football

Despite its remoteness from the birthplace of Australian rules football in Melbourne, and its tiny population for many years (and still to this day relative to the rest of Australia), the football competition in the Territory is not that much younger than the Sydney rugby league competition that became the NRL.

The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) was founded in 1916 with the Wanderers Football Club, and Waratah Football Club as founding members. Waratahs are the only club to have competed in every season of the NTFL. Darwin Football Club was formed in 1917, Nightcliff Football Club (originally Works and Housing) in 1950, St Mary’s Football Club in 1952, and Palmerston Football Club in 1972 (as North Darwin), and Southern Districts in 1987.

Many see the time before the AFL arrived in 2001 to take over the NTFL as the golden age of football in the Northern Territory, Darwin, particularly.

Top administrators such as Daryl Window, long time secretary of the NTFL, and long-serving club presidents such as Frank “Doodles” AhMat, from the Darwin Buffaloes, and Vic Ludwig from St Mary’s, were coldly and ruthlessly cut adrift by the newly formed AFLNT in an astonishing precursor to how the AFL intended to control and dominate local and community interests.

While it was argued by the AFL that the NTFL was in need of their management expertise to avoid emerging financial difficulties as a result of moving to the Marrara stadium as the new headquarters, this has been disputed by some of the senior administrators with long experience running the NTFL, and by senior club presidents.

For example, Window said the AFL takeover occurred after the AFL undertook a financial evaluation of the NTFL and concluded it was in debt for an amount around $370,000.

However, Window now believes that this was incorrect, and the NTFL was in fact, running a small profit.

Rather, the senior administrators, along with Window, argue they were misled by the AFL investigators as a deliberate strategy to take over the management and control of the NTFL.

The AFL was particularly interested, it is argued, in gaining control of the very talented Aboriginal players then playing for NTFL clubs. And this is the very basis for the argument for a Territory team but there has been clear neglect of some Aboriginal players in the AFL, and certainly for some, after their time in the big league.

What is certainly clear in retrospect, is that the move to take over the NTFL failed miserably in terms of winning the hearts and minds of many Darwin people by not involving key management and administrative people associated with the NTFL.

Recently, NT footy again felt the reality of the Melbourne-centric power of AFL decision making, completely out of touch with the wishes of the local community, when the decision was made in March to retrospectively strip the champion Tiwi footballer Denis Dunn’s name from the goal kicking award that honours him, due to a conviction for attempting to take a pound of marijuana to the Tiwi Islands in 2016.

He had received a six-month prison sentence, spent a mandatory minimum 28 days in prison, had a criminal conviction recorded, and as well, he was separately punished in his community on the Tiwi islands.

Ironically, this has served to alienate important Aboriginal communities from the AFLNT, as well as many in the Darwin community.

The neglect of community football by the AFL

But what is said about Australian rules football in the Territory since the capture by the AFL through the AFLNT, is a mirror of the continued criticism directed at the AFL more generally, particularly when this comes to regional and country-based football clubs.

The AFL continues to haul in record profits, but there are genuine fears for the health of football at the grassroots level.

There are some in Victoria and in New South Wales below the Barassi line, at least, who think it is clearly showing that the AFL cares about the AFL, not grassroots football.

“Lots of footy people in the regions have had a gutful of the city-centric AFL and the affiliation system,” Tim McCormick, coach of football club Mathoura, in the south-central part of NSW’s Riverina, is quoted as saying in an article about grassroots football in the Guardian.

“It feels like the AFL doesn’t get country footy; doesn’t care about the health of the game at the grassroots. They just take the fees and give little back.”

The paper reported McCormick has played, coached, and been an administrator in Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland clubs and leagues for close to 40 years.

And in 2023, the league Mathoura plays in, the Picola and District Football and Netball League, which straddles the NSW-Victoria border, de-affiliated from the AFL for the second time in six years.

A further example of concern was the decision to strip the Victorian country club Wangaratta Magpies of its 2022 Ovens and Murray premiership, after AFL Victoria found the club was $28,000 over the $125,000 salary cap.

As reported in the Guardian, Wangaratta’s fine was payable to the AFL.

The paper quoted a senior administrator from a club playing in a high level country league, who asked to remain anonymous, who said those fines “never filter back” to the local game.

“What does that money deliver to country footy?” he said.

“Does it help clubs get more umpires? Or run junior programs? Or alleviate any of the pressure on a dwindling number of volunteers who keep grassroots clubs alive? Does it keep struggling clubs alive?’

“I doubt it. It goes into the AFL coffers. (At best) it might be another bloke walking around in an AFL polo shirt somewhere.”

Many people would be increasingly aware of the growing number of regional and community football clubs across country, and metropolitan football, that have struggled to survive over the last 10 years. There are, of course, many factors that have caused this.

These include, rural clubs losing population as young people move to the cities, and a lack of sponsorship and revenue.

But at the top of it all is the AFL, and how it uses its ever growing bank balance, to centralise power and influence, while it also appears able to sponge off taxpayer funding.

There are many who think the AFL has been extremely short sighted, and unable to appreciate that the nursery of the game is where the game is nurtured and grows, and should be regarded as a priority.

The AFL has been accused of ruthlessly undercutting regional football by arranging, before they are drafted, for many 16-, 17- and 18-year-old recruits to be given scholarships to elite private schools. As a result, regional football administrators point out that regional and community football these days “gets the dregs”.

They argue that the AFL doesn’t care about regional, remote, or metropolitan community clubs, it’s all about getting the juniors into the elite education system and then into the AFL.

To get a sense of the feeling, one commenter on the Big Footy website said: “They need a second tier comp but they couldn’t give a stuff about country leagues or amateurs, as they provide no input into the AFL system”.

Hawthorn Team of the Century ruckman Don Scott, told the 3AW football podcast Footy: Then and Now, that the AFL has “fucked” football at a local level.

The Melbourne-based Scott said the handling of the introduction of a grassroots salary cap, increased travel distances, and forced purchases of merchandise and equipment through licensed suppliers were some of the many poor decisions made in recent years.

He was also critical that the AFL had “eroded” the “community” aspect of football.

“They are administrators who live in the city, they’ve got no idea about community in the country,” he said.

This is made worse in the NT when the AFLNT is essentially run from AFL headquarters in Melbourne with very little input allowed for local opinions or suggestions.

Criticisms of the AFL’s administration of local leagues centre around the salary cap and the player point system, which the AFL says is designed to promote “even and fair” competitions.

“They want leagues to run in a uniform and consistent way but every league, every situation is different, and that’s what some in the Victorian country league say,” McCormick told the Guardian.

“You set a salary cap from on high. But that doesn’t mean every club has that much money to spend. And then there’s the [player] points system, which is very cut and dried and doesn’t seem to take into consideration what’s actually happening on the ground.”

“I think the issue with the AFL is they don’t get that there is so much variation in football. It would be ideal to have a one-model-fits-all and that’s what they want, but that’s not how it works. You can’t make something work by just setting rules and being inflexible.’’

The counter productive experiences of NTFL administrators with the AFL

Discussion with previous senior administrators of the NTFL and the clubs, very much supports how the attitudes and control systems of the Melbourne AFL treat the local NT clubs with disdain and disinterest, and have provided a lack of financial support.

A major problem also occurs with regard to the financial returns for the clubs. Cazaly’s Club at Palmerston was established originally by the NTFL to benefit local football. However, it was taken over by AFLNT.

It is not clear whether financial information is ever published in detail (it does publish community donations) but it is thought that it has annual turnover in excess of $20 million per annum. And it is estimated to be making a large annual profit with any excess funding going to the AFLNT, rather than the clubs.

It is thought that the majority of funding is used to pay for a very large administrative and management staff. Currently there are around 68 AFLNT staff, compared to the administrative staff of four people to run the NTFL pre-2001.

Previously clubs depended on canteen sales and sponsorship. All these sources of revenue have been taken away and clubs need to go cap-in-hand to the AFL.

The AFL often justifies moving in to take over regional and country areas like the NT, due to a toxic culture existing. Such as the case with the decision to strip Dunn’s name from the goal kicking medal.

It is ironic and hypocritical, to say the least, that the AFL sees itself as a moral guardian given the allegations of corruption, cronyism, a lack of financial information and transparency, and a lack of corporate governance, published in Warner’s book, as well as in the criticisms by other commentators.

“The men who seized control of the Australian Football League had a parallel purpose – the advancement of their own interests,” Warner wrote.

“They paid themselves exorbitant salaries, gave preferential treatment to their mates and behaved ruthlessly and without accountability, as if the competition was their personal fiefdom.

“They became football’s ultimate beneficiaries, selectively distributing wealth and providing a seat at the table only to those who came to heel and abided by the boys’ club rules.

“Integrity, too, must count for something other than mere brand protection. Yes, they had succeeded in building a formidable football empire, but the willingness to dispose so clinically of anyone or anything that got in their way… tells the other side of the story.”

Window says that the AFL moved in and centralised management and administrative controls without any idea or interest in the culture and operation of regional or community football in the NT. This includes the importance of volunteers and sponsorship and how to arrange these important aspects.

They have never been interested in employing any of the senior administrators who were successfully involved in the NTFL for many years before they took over.

Rather, senior positions have been filled from the head office in Melbourne.

The only club president from the NTFL refusing to agree to a takeover by the AFL in 2001 was AhMat. It was only after some years that most surviving presidents now agree, unfortunately, with AhMat’s courageous, one person stand.

The main points now conceded by Window form the basis for AhMat’s original main objections. They include a lack of interest in recognising the rights and interests of the clubs, and far too much control by the Melbourne-based AFL head office.

AhMat foresaw that the AFL would substantially damage the existing NTFL competition and starve the clubs of finance. Good players would be taken by the AFL, including young talent not being available to the existing competition. The Gold Coast Suns Academy now includes players from the Darwin metro area.

He foresaw that the drop in standards would lead to a significant drop in spectator interest. And since the AFL take over, football standards have fallen drastically.

Another reason is that there are too many teams, with talented players spread too thinly through the league. For improved standards, and given the population size of the NT, there is a need to be an amalgamation of some clubs.

At present, clubs rely heavily on imports from other parts of Australia to survive.

An AFL in urgent need of reform

It is clear that there is widespread dissatisfaction from football administrators and commentators with the AFL, throughout the country.

In The Boys’ Club Western Australian, Terry O’Connor, QC, who was a member of the AFL Commission from 1993 until 2001, makes a telling observation, particularly relevant to the desire to establish an AFL team in the Territory.

“I progressively came to the conclusion that developing markets about which I was passionate (New South Wales), to the detriment of the heartland (Victoria), made no sense whatsoever,” he was quoted as saying.

There is little doubt the AFL needs to be reformed and restructured.

Commentators have argued for an overdue independent review which needs to focus on executive accountability, commissioner selection, corporate governance, financial transparency, proper training and procurement processes, and integrity investigations.

Warner writes in his book that parallels to the AFL’s culture can be drawn from the 2019 banking royal commission findings about the culture of Australian financial institutions.

“The banks (and the government for a period) strongly resisted the idea that there even should be an inquiry into the industry’s culture and governance practices – and yet what did the royal commission find?” he wrote.

“Rampant cultural and governance issues in an industry that had lost its way.

“What the AFL really needs is administrators genuinely dedicated to the advancement of the game instead of a select few members of a boys’ club patting themselves on the back and feathering their own nests.”

More fundamentally, it needs to be recognised that the AFL has become a giant monopolist, exhibiting all the unfortunate and exploitative behaviours associated with such a dominant position.

As a first-year economics undergraduate will explain, monopolists tend to control prices and under-deliver. As pointed out many years ago by the famous American economist, JK Galbraith, there is a strong need for what is known as ‘countervailing power’ to better balance the power concentration of the AFL with its focus on Melbourne and Victorian teams.

A main way of achieving this would be to grant more power to the states through the establishment of state- and territories-based AFL committees. These would also be represented at the Melbourne headquarters of the AFL.

Such a system of governance would follow the Australian system of government, and recognise that a federal system is needed in a large and diverse country such as Australia. Both the United States of America and Canada have similar systems.

A main advantage of this system of governance is that it allows for a far better understanding of local issues. The central structure of the AFL for example, clearly has no way of understanding the main issues and demands operating at the state and territory levels.

Another key advantage is that it prevents the sort of power abuses that have been pointed to out publicly, such as in the The Boys’ Club. Distributing power between the central Melbourne authority and the states and territories allows appropriate checks and balances so that one unit cannot over dominate the others.

It has also been argued that this system of governance provides for more efficiency in governance and administration. States and territories are given more room to solve their own problems.

If all such decision making is left to the central Melbourne authority, it is not surprising that decisions and solutions are more effective in some states and territories, and far less effective in others.

This clearly happens with many pointing to the favouritism shown to Melbourne and Victoria, compared with the other states.

While the advantages of such a system outweigh the disadvantages, a federal system can also cause issues with accountability. When the responsibility for governance and administration is shared it becomes easier for one level of governance to blame the other for problems that may arise, although this problem can be reduced if relevant powers and responsibilities are defined clearly.

What little the AFL spends on grass roots football

Finally, in response to the damage done to community and regional football by the AFL, the AFL commission endorsed that ‘’not less than 10 per cent’’ of the AFL’s accessible football revenue annually would go to community football in 2023 and beyond.

To reach a one million registered participant goal, the AFL has to increase funding and focus on the non-traditional football markets of New South Wales and Queensland, while ensuring support continues to be directed to heartland footy states and territories such as Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and NT.

This will mean less money for the football regions where community football is struggling. It is clear that the AFL in Melbourne has left this decision far too late, given the clear indications that were emerging.

In addition, the centralised Melbourne-centric decision making and lack of understanding of community and regional football will continue to cause damage to the sport.

The AFL’s actual financial clout

From figures in the latest 2023 annual report, the total revenue of the AFL in 2022 was a staggering $944 million. Over 40 per cent of revenue came from broadcasting and media rights. Another 37 per cent was due to the AFL’s commercial operations, while $88 million came from government grants.

In 2023, the AFL’s operating revenue increased by a further $104.5 million, to over $1 billion. This is a sharp increase in revenue. It is interesting to note that ‘game development’ was only around 8.5 per cent of total revenue.

In 2016, it was revealed the AFL’s then CEO, McLachlan, was paid $1.72 million during 2015, his second year in charge of the competition. Since then, the amount that the CEO is paid – and it was more than $4 million (due to bonuses) in his final year – can only be estimated or sourced via the backdoor.

His predecessor, Demetriou’s wage, which counted bonuses, was on public record until he stepped down. Today, the AFL publishes (in the annual report), only the aggregate salaries of all 10 AFL executives, which reached $13.6 million in 2023 – an increase the league attributed to “transition costs” from one CEO to the other, after the release of the annual report.

The power of an opaque AFL over governments

Foundation AFL commissioner Dick Sneddon told Warner, “the pendulum has swung too far against the clubs. The power of the AFL … has become too great and should be wound back. I think the game has been ruined as a spectacle and I wish the AFL would stop fiddling with the rules – and I do not believe the AFL should be socially engineering society on trendy left-wing issues. They should be running a football competition”.

It is increasingly the case that many see the AFL as a divisive and a negative social engineering organisation that causes far more problems than it is worth.

This is made worse by the obvious hypocrisy exposed through comments by former Victorian premier and Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who, when referring to the Warner book, noted it was, “a frighteningly honest account of cover-up, the failure to exercise good governance, massive conflicts of interest, and … total lack of transparency”.

A further example of the divisiveness caused by the AFL at the state and local level, and an in-part perfect example of the Territory situation, is provided by the recent case of the AFL stadium in Tasmania.

The AFL granted Tasmania the 19th AFL team licence last year, which was tied to a new 23,000-seat roofed stadium in Hobart, estimated to cost at least $715 million.

But the construction of the new stadium resulted in a large amount of divisive argument in the community with the opposition Labor party only agreeing to the stadium after much spirited argument, and refusing to fully support the plans because of concerns about the financial implications for the state.

Many were concerned about the need for more public housing rather than an expensive large sporting complex occupying prime real estate.

The Tasmanian Government has promised not to contribute more than $375 million on the stadium, with the Federal Government paying $240 million, and the AFL $15 million. However, there has been no explanation of where the rest of the money is coming from.

Such financial realities bring home the realism of the Territory bid for an AFL team. The NT is less populated and wealthy than Tasmania, which for a long time itself was viewed as too small a market for an AFL team.

For further evidence of influence over governments you can also use the example of how the AFL managed to convince the Victorian Government in 2021 to spend $225 million on Docklands Stadium, the fully AFL-owned private football ground, which was only 20 years old, in exchange for guaranteeing the grand final be held at the MCG until 2050. Did the AFL have any intention of playing the game anywhere but the MCG anyway?

“It was a classic AFL manoeuvre. Bag the elephant and get someone else to pay for it,” Warner wrote in The Boys’ Club.

Warner also used the comments of former and now deceased Victorian premier John Cain to summarise such concerns. Cain, while in government had employed former Carlton player and the future, but now former, AFL Commission chair Mike Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick’s tenure as chair had taken in parts of both Demetriou and McLachlan’s terms as AFL CEOs, so he knew one of the men behind the culture.

“I think they colonise everybody at the AFL to their way of thinking, like an imperial power handling the colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,” Mr Cain was quoted as saying.

“They convert and indoctrinate people to their will, and their will was to maximise income.

“They’ve got a huge bureaucracy in their own right, they pay themselves immense salaries; it’s extraordinary, and what they did to … to get $225 million of taxpayers’ funds [for the league-owned Docklands stadium upgrade], despite the advice of a whole range of people.

“I just couldn’t believe that. They have a remarkable skill at invading everybody around them, and getting them to bend to their will. And the money they throw around is quite extraordinary as we’ve seen with the Gold Coast Suns and the Giants.”

But they are not as willing to throw around money in the NT, or Tasmania, where they have governments desperate for teams of their own.

The NT team proposal

In an attempt to establish the AFL’s 20th team, a business case has been released claiming economic and social benefits but requiring large financial support, mostly from governments, but some from the AFL.

The business case claims a new stadium in Darwin’s CBD could be built within the next seven-to-10 years at a cost between $700-$735 million in today’s money, allowing the team to enter a few years after the Tasmania Devils, who’ll begin play in 2028.

This raises the immediate question of what would then happen to the Marrara sporting complex and associated sports, as well as the substantial funding expended on these facilities.

The plan also calls for $80 million in upgrades to Traeger Park in Alice Springs over the next three years, plus $160 million in further improvements to the ground along with a refurbishment of Marrara stadium in Darwin.

It also estimates an annual operational financial shortfall for an NT AFL team of between $6.89 million to $18.89 million annually, depending how much money the AFL distributed to the club, with the rest of the money said to potentially come from the NT Government, the Federal Government, Indigenous land councils, “corporate social responsibility”, Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (which would be a loan), and Indigenous owned corporations.

“An AFL club in the NT will need to look to government at both a Territory and Federal level to provide financial support for operational requirements of the club and for the development of the required stadium infrastructure. This will ensure a sustainable financial model is secured for the club,” the business case said.

It seemed to suggest the AFL was not even prepared to stump up the token $15 million it was contributing to the Tasmanian stadium.

The report states that in the construction phase, total employment will increase by 594 and gross regional product by $139 million. In the operational phase employment, beside that of players, will increase by 262, and GRP by $53 million.

To say that such figures are ‘very rubbery’ would be an understatement. For example, it is far from clear what modelling was used to reach such figures, or some of the more important assumptions that underlie the modelling.

With respect to the measure of GPR for example, it is not clear how much of the employment and goods and services will be imported. A high level of imports to support the construction stage is more than likely, which will not benefit the Territory economy anywhere to the extent predicted.

The AFL’s pivot off the back of Aboriginal disadvantage for Aboriginal talent

Previous senior administrators of the NTFL are of the view that the AFL seems to think they have achieved their aim currently if they can steer one or two Aboriginal players to the AFL competition each year.

The Territory AFL team business case report argues the AFL had a proven track record of “positively influencing community outcomes in relation to education attendance, mental and physical health, crime and anti-social behaviour and equality”.

“It is for this reason that the expansion of AFL in the NT has the potential to be an important vehicle to address some of the Territory’s most challenging social issues,” the report said.

This is very debatable with little understanding of how to assist ex-Indigenous AFL players deal with an after-football life which in a number of cases has caused major problems for individuals.

In addition, as mentioned before, the AFL has a very poor reputation in terms of transparency, governance and management. This is particularly the case with regional and community football.

The report goes on to argue: “Furthermore, the proposal has the potential to make real impact towards the key outcomes outlined in the Closing the Gap report, and to address the significant impact of disadvantage in the region.”

It is hard to take such an exaggerated claim seriously.

The need to involve talented Aboriginal people within the AFL is far more complex than recognised or understood by the AFL. Many top AFL Aboriginal players have been left stranded by the AFL on completion of their playing days. Some end their later years unemployed and tragically affected by excessive drug and alcohol intake.

The AFL has also been criticised for taking young people as talented footballers from their families, and not providing sufficient family access and support to these young players. This causes major problems of family dislocation.

There is also a lack of understanding of how finances need to be shared among family members, and the consequences to young footballers when this is not done.

Currently the AFL, regardless of its spin on Indigenous football rounds, questionable and irrelevant Indigenous paraphernalia and welcomes to countrys, for example, needs to be far better focused on how Aboriginal players are to be prepared for a positive life, after football.

Without this the AFL can be rightly accused of badly exploiting these players for their own financial benefit.

These problems, and those highlighted in the Close the Gap initiative, many would argue, would be far better addressed by putting more skills and resources into escalating health, education, economic, and social issues, rather than diverting them to a fanciful, pie-in-the-sky Territory AFL team.

Additional major barriers

It is recognised by serious commentators that the plan to establish a Territory AFL team runs into serious financial realities. As pointed out previously, the NT is less populated and wealthy than Tasmania, which for a long time was viewed as too small a market for an AFL team, and is still working through the AFL mandated construction of a new stadium in Hobart.

The business case also recognises that expansion teams in the AFL “have experienced mixed successes in terms of performance”.

And: “Sustained poor on and off field performance of a NT club may have a detrimental impact on its long- term success and viability”.

It is recognised that any AFL side in the Territory would face inadequate existing sporting infrastructure, along with supporting services, and regional infrastructure required to support an AFL club, such as a lack of flights and accommodation, as well as housing, medical, education and other community services. These would all provide serious barriers to attracting and retaining visitors and residents in the region.

This would include the ‘liveability’ of the NT. It is recognised that player and staff retention, would be a problem with safety identified as a concern, along with a lack of public amenity, and access to public services.

AhMat also raises concerns that other sports played in Darwin will be badly affected by the AFL introducing a team to the Territory. He is of the view that the very high level of funding support required by an NT AFL side will drain much needed funding away from other sports.

In addition, AhMat is of the view that even if the existing draft system were to allocate talented players to a new AFL team, it would be unlikely that many players would wish to be based in Darwin.

He argues that there is very little substance to the desire to establish a new AFL team in the Territory, given the low population base, and the very high level of government and taxpayer funding required.

Rather, it is a proposal for political purposes, and for the vested interests likely to benefit financially, from becoming involved in the proposal.

Given the financial position of the AFL, it seems unreasonable in the extreme, that the taxpayer should be subsidising the financial position of the AFL.

It is because of the burgeoning bottom line of the AFL that some commentators argue that while a business case for an NT AFL team may fail, the AFL needs to make sure the NT is in the national competition.

To do this they need to invest their substantial financial reserves. It is believed that they have an ethical responsibility to do this, if their objective is to promote the growth of football in Australia.

Conclusion

The proposal for a new AFL team in the Territory raises high financial and social risks with a relatively low return to the community.

It is clear that the AFL should provide the bulk of the funding if they wish to expand the national competition, given their exceedingly large and ever expanding resources.

The current Chief Minister Eva Lawler argues: ‘’You can’t just get tied up in all the social issues and not address some of the other issues.

“Darwin is just like every other capital city and elsewhere in Australia [when it comes to crime] it is about making sure we invest in police, which we are doing, invest in those generational issues that we need to see around young people.

“But you know what? AFL is part of the solution to all of that.”

There were similar arguments made about the Tiwi Bombers playing in the NTFL, the Central Australian Redtails also in the NTFL, and the Wadeye Magic playing in the Tiwi Island Football League.

Many would argue that important social, economic and educational issues should have priority over the very large amount of taxpayer’s money expended on a football team for the Territory.

Many also see this as a political tactic as old as the Romans.

The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. The Romans held games 10 to 12 times a year. Paid for by the Emperor, the games were used to keep the poor and unemployed entertained and occupied. The Emperor hoped to distract the poor in the hope they would not revolt.

Sounds all too familiar.

In late November last year, as reported in the NT Independent, the mid-year fiscal report showed the Territory’s net debt was forecast to hit $9.2 billion this year and rise to $10.2 billion in 2025-26, which the government claimed would then begin to decrease starting in 2026-27.

There have been rolling code yellows at Royal Darwin Hospital and Palmerston Regional Hospital, while the NT Government recently committed to spend at least $350 million between 2025 and 2029 on public school funding after underspending by about $227 million a year, and has also announced it would recruit 200 new police officers over the next four years at a cost of $200 million.

Major health, education and employment problems are evident in Aboriginal communities, with escalating levels of frustration and violence.

How these priorities are recognised and acted upon by the NT government is far from clear.

However, it is clear that a contentious and controversial AFL management and administration stands accused of badly damaging community and metropolitan football, creating a high degree of community division and diverting very large amounts of taxpayer funding to a pie-in-the-sky proposal to establish an AFL team based in the Northern Territory.

This appears to financially benefit already wealthy vested interests at the expense of those who most need support in the Territory.

To make matters worse, such decisions are being made with very little input from the Territory community, although they will be expected to pay a lot for the privilege.

Dr Don Fuller grew up in Darwin and attended Darwin High School. He worked in the Department of the Chief Minister and for a short time for Paul Everingham, the first chief minister of the Northern Territory. He also worked as the electoral manager for the successful Tiwi candidate for the seat of Arafura, Francis Kurrupuwu, at the 2012 Territory election. He has been a member of both the ALP and CLP.

He also holds a first class Honours degree and PhD in economics from the University of Adelaide. He has worked as the Professor of Governance and Head of the Schools of Law and Business at Charles Darwin University.