My Dad was a big Aussie Rules fan. He barracked for Carlton, the Blues, on the basis that he had been born in Bacchus Marsh, just outside Melbourne, and a lot of Carlton players came from that area. That was his story, at least.

In turn, his children became enthusiastic fans of the Blues, although I was probably less fanatical than my sisters. We would often travel up to Princes Park, Carlton’s home ground, on a Saturday afternoon and watch the match from the outer. My grandfather had made two stools and we often took them to improve our viewing.

Dad would regularly engage in serious, animated conversations about the game with other spectators. He didn’t know them, but the game had a unifying impact which overrode any differences between people – education, income, occupation, birthplace and the like. At least in those days, Aussie Rules contributed greatly to a sense of social cohesion in the state; it was an early form of popular culture.

These days, I take very little interest in the game. It’s yonks since I’ve been to a live match. The Australian Football League is full of woke numbskulls imposing biased political messaging on a game that should simply be an entertaining contest between very fit players. If I must endure another Dreamtime round, I think I’ll scream.

As for the AFL’s so-called concern about climate change, if the commissioners were serious, they would shut down the national competition – think of the air miles that would be saved – and have all the matches played on Saturday afternoon with no lights required. I might even be prepared to calculate the associated carbon abatement if this decision were taken, which of course it never will be.

Now the reason I am banging on about Aussie Rules football is the toxic mix of sport and politics that has reared its ugly head recently in Tasmania. With the AFL commissioners effectively holding the Tasmanian government to ransom, the short-term outcome has been the collapse of the Liberal Rockcliff government and the likely calling of another election not long after the last one.

The immediate backdrop to these events was the handing down of a grossly irresponsible budget that involved a massive unfunded commitment to the building of a new stadium to accommodate the proposed new AFL club, the Tassie Devils.

For this club to join the AFL, the commissioners have demanded that a new roofed stadium be built at Macquarie Point in Hobart. The stadium is expected to accommodate 23,000 spectators. The original estimated cost of the stadium was $715 million, and the federal government has agreed to chip in $240 million.

The cost has now blown out to $945 million – let’s round this out to a billion dollars – with the AFL making the paltry contribution of $15 million, although there is a large dollar commitment from the AFL to get the club up and running.

The requirement that the stadium has an immovable roof rules it out for cricket. Cricket matches will continue to be played at the nearby Bellerive Oval. There is also the fact that Aussie Rules is more popular with Tasmanians living in the north of the state. Half of the matches are expected to be played in Launceston at the existing UTAS stadium.

Of course, Tasmania is a small place, with fewer than 600,000 people living there. According to the most recent budget, around $10.5 billion will be spent next financial year, but only $9.5 billion will be raised in revenue. Depressingly, the largest single source of revenue is the inflated GST amount returned by the Commonwealth.

But here’s the real kicker. It is estimated that Tasmanian government net debt will be $7.3 billion in 2025-26 and $10.8 billion in 2028-29. Wow and another wow. In 2020-21, net government debt had been less than $2 billion, having been very low in the 2010s.

This rate of deterioration in the fiscal position of a sub-national government is almost without precedent. It is astonishing that any responsible state government would even consider underwriting this new stadium under the circumstances, but both the Liberal and Labor parties are on board.

But here’s the thing: the AFL commissioners’ position is effectively ‘no stadium, no team’. It’s clear that several commissioners are not much in favour of bringing a new team into the competition. Gosh, the league is already struggling with the male teams it has before taking into account the Australian Football Women’s League which has been a major financial drain. The AFWL has particularly struggled to achieve significant broadcast ratings.

But let’s be clear here: the AFL is one of the most financially successful football codes around. The latest broadcast agreement has a total value of $4.5 billion – it is the biggest sports broadcast rights deal in Australian history. With annual revenue of $643 million per season, it is one-third higher than the previous deal.

But as part of this deal, no matches are shown on free-to-air television on Saturdays, which is a bitter blow for many fans. Unsurprisingly, the outgoing CEO, Gillon McLachlan, benefitted handsomely from the deal.

There is doubtless much support in the Apple Isle for the establishment of the new Tasmanian club. It has been talked about for many years and Aussie Rules is the most popular football code. But, of course, there are plenty of Tasmanians who don’t give a toss and would prefer the state government stick to its core functions.

A distinction always has to be made between want and need. The Tasmanian government may think that the state needs its own football club. The reality is that the state wants its own football club, as interpreted by the politicians. Accepting the coercive and derisory offer from the AFL would be a big mistake.

But at least I got a bit of chuckle from the sport versus budget management shemozzle. A teary Kath McCann, general manger of marketing, corporate affairs and social impact – pause for laughter here – for the Tassie Devils, claimed that ‘this club is powered by future generations. We’re going to play on. We want to see this team become a reality because our young people deserve it.’ These words were then followed by sobbing.

Was she joking? Was this some sort of prank? She sounded like a devastated teenager who had missed out on tickets to Tay Tay. Surely, we should expect more of these officials who, no doubt, are paid handsomely. This sort of mush gives the game a bad name.

My advice to Jeremy Rockliff and the equally misguided leader of the opposition, Dean Winter, is to tell the AFL to take a hike. Tasmanians should not be bullied into building an overpriced, over-engineered stadium that will be used a few times each year.

There is no reason why a new club can’t use the facilities that already exist in Hobart and Launceston. In due course, there may be a case for a new stadium, but not now. The Tasmanian government must put needs well before wants and start repairing its parlous budget position as soon as possible.