In the News

HAWKE (
Mitchell) (
7.00 p.m.)—This year Rugby League celebrates its 100th anniversary in

Australia after commencing in the north of

England in 1895. Indeed, the origins of the great game of Rugby League go back to

England’s north, which broke away from the Rugby Football Union after it refused to allow working-class players to be compensated for playing the game and for any injuries received while on the field. While I am not one of those in this House who are from the great cause of organised labour, I do want to record my admiration of this achievement of the working classes of that era.

Alex Hawke's First Speech to Parliament

{flv img="/images/stories/videos/first_speech.jpg" width="300" height="240"}alex_hawke_aph_first_speech{/flv}