Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Kyneton Women's Football Club and call on the AFL to let them play. The Kyneton women's football team broke away from the Kyneton Tigers at the start of 2025. They formed a standalone club but were knocked back by several leagues and weren't able to play. Last year, the Kyneton women's football team merged with Gisborne for the 2025 season, but it was only a short-term decision. What they really want to do is play on their own.

The club is player led. They've formed a strong governance support structure. They've organised grants and have facility access. The local council have said that, if they have a league, they will accept them; they will make playing grounds available. They are organised. The Kyneton Wedge-Tailed Eagles are campaigning to get into a league—any league. There are several that they could play in in central Victoria, but so far the AFL has said no. The club has been knocked back from competing with any affiliated leagues in the region and is unable to appeal the decision, which we all find quite shocking.

In the Central Victoria Football League there are already two standalone women's football clubs, the Bendigo Thunder and the Mount Alexander Falcons, so it is not unusual for women to come together to organise their own club. If we want to encourage women to play, it should be on their own terms. We already have a strong track record in central Victoria of having standalone women's clubs that are financially sound and able to field teams. It is staggering that the AFL are refusing to hear from the club and allow them to play. As we speak, players are staging training sessions outside AFL House in the hope of getting the attention of the AFL CEO. To date, they have not been successful. We are still unsure why they've been refused and are not allowed to play. They don't want special treatment. They just want to be treated as equals and play the game they love, like so many other women in our region.

There are leagues ready to take the 'Wedgies' for the 2026 season, yet they are still being refused and overruled by the AFL. They've done the work. They've built the club. They are ground led. Let them play. I call upon the AFL to let them play. Empower more women in our region to play their way. If we genuinely want to see participation in grassroots women's sport grow, then let the Kyneton Women's Football Club team play.