Brett Godfrey says the ball is in the AFL's court following the public release of the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce's findings on Friday.
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The Taskforce chairman heralded the 267-page business plan - which details Tasmania's football climate, funding, stadium requirements and obstacles - as debunking the myths that have kept the state from its own team for decades.
"In this review nobody can say that Tasmania doesn't have a team because of Tasmania, which is kind of what the messaging has been throughout history," Mr Godfrey said.
"This does debunk all of that - it's now if Tasmania doesn't get a team it's because others north of Bass Strait have decided that's the case."
One of the most-cited barriers to a standalone AFL team has been Tasmania's long-running parochialism that has divided many a sporting fan for decades.
The United We Stand campaign, which gathered 64,232 signatures in support of an AFL side before closing, indicated Tasmanians would unite behind a team of their own.
Mr Godfrey said the establishment of such a side would not only breed unity, but breathe new life into a sport which could otherwise cease to be the state's favourite by 2030.
"Show me a football club that doesn't have politics in amongst it and I'll show you a unicorn," Mr Godfrey said.
"That's another furphy that I think we're pretty clear has been kicked into touch.
"I hope for the sake of the game in this state they determine that protecting a core AFL heartland is a good business decision.
"From the work we've done it's fair to say the game is at risk - it has declining relative engagement so we know what the triggers of engagement are and one of them is ... what happens to participation and talent when you put in a local AFL club."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Premier Peter Gutwein met with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan on Thursday and will do so again the coming weeks to discuss the Taskforce's findings.
Sworn into the role little more than a fortnight ago following six years as Treasurer, Mr Gutwein said the Taskforce's modelling proved a Tasmanian team could be more beneficial to the state than deals with Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
"Based on the modelling it can certainly be demonstrated that we can get a better outcome," Mr Gutwein said.
"The overall cost of 11 games in the state best case scenario is $7.3 million - we currently pay $8 million for seven games.
"So in terms of the outcome and what the modelling demonstrates is it's about $110 million dollars worth of positive impact on our economy and 360 jobs across the tourism and footballing sector, so there's a very strong financial case from this and an economic case."
The Taskforce's business plan found that a Tasmanian AFL team would create 116 FTE jobs - equating to around $27 million in salaries and on-costs - and add another $13 million in direct expenditure to the state economy.
The AFL, federal and state government would need to stump up an estimated $45 million to get the team off the ground, with between $25-30 million of that sum going towards high-performance player facilities.