Famous five: Meet the heavyweights who will appoint club’s board
The Tasmanian AFL Club’s inaugural chairman has revealed the identity of the five people tasked with selecting the board for the state’s first team — and if former premier Peter Gutwein will play a role. WHAT’S NEXT >>
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Tasmanian AFL Club’s inaugural chairman, renowned businessman Grant O’Brien, has revealed the identity of the five people tasked with selecting the board.
Speaking at Dial Park in his native Penguin — he played in the Two Blues’ 1980 premiership team — Mr O’Brien, standing alongside Premier Jeremy Rockliff and AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, said the nominations committee would consist of five heavy hitters.
They are:
- Grant O’Brien in his capacity as chair.
- Peggy O’Neal: A corporate lawyer and governance expert who is a former president of Richmond Football Club and the current Chancellor of RMIT University.
- Andrew Dillon: The AFL chief executive elect, who will take over from Mr McLachlan in October.
- Liz Jack: Former Olympian and director of the Tasmanian Institute of Sport as well as the executive director of government agency Keeping Children Safe.
- Errol Stewart: Managing director of Tasmanian company JMC Automotive Group Pty Ltd and Tasmanian AFL Taskforce member.
“This group of five are tasked with finding the directors required to fill the roles of skills-based foundation board,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We will assemble the sort of board Tasmanians will be proud of.
“It’s going to take a team to build a team, the board is important in any organisation. It’s a really great opportunity for us, there are plenty of important people who want to support us.”
He said it was a sure bet that the inaugural board would feature a strong Tasmanian flavour, although stopped short of committing to all board members being locally based.
Asked about where ex-Premier Peter Gutwein — an early frontrunner for the chair role — fitted into plans, Mr O’Brien said Mr Gutwein has “a lot to offer”.
“I spoke to Peter Gutwein last week, he’s like a lot of Tasmanians in that he wants to play any part he can to make the team a success,” Mr O’Brien said.
Mr O’Brien said that the nominations committee would move swiftly, with the inaugural board to be announced by the end of August.
He also committed the fledgling club to a number of KPIs requiring fulfilment before Grand Final Day — the last Saturday of September.
They included getting the “legal stuff underway” to formally establish the club, establishing a business plan that formally codifies the “time frames and workflows,” establishing a date for the team’s VFL entry, and also progressing plans for a “training and administration centre”.
Once those more legalistic items had been progressed, the fun stuff could begin: choosing a team name (Mr O’Brien’s parochial choice as the early favourite is the Penguins), colours, jersey, and selling foundation memberships.
Mr O’Brien promised to bring Tasmanians along for the ride, committing to regular rounds of community consultation.
“It’s their voice that helps guide us with what we need to do,” he said.
Council attitude to Hobart homeless “hostile”, activists say
A group of activists say the City of Hobart has been “hostile” towards homeless people, at a time when many are doing it tough. Here’s why they removed fencing around heritage trees.
Peking Duk announce surprise Hobart show
It is a bit of a risk announcing a show only a few weeks out, but that does not matter when you are Peking Duk. Where and when the electronic duo are playing.