![MAKING A CASE: Premier Peter Gutwein (right) in conversation with Tasmania AFL taskforce chairman Brett Godfrey. Picture: Paul Scambler MAKING A CASE: Premier Peter Gutwein (right) in conversation with Tasmania AFL taskforce chairman Brett Godfrey. Picture: Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H9AemfQ3cDaTrBwqEFxwv/4c3bbd37-34d4-491e-bc31-587d3dcf0f2d.jpg/r977_606_3872_2598_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The AFL may be set to break its silence on Tasmania's bid for its own team.
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Decades worth of discussion and debate appeared to come to a head early last year as the Tasmania AFL taskforce handed down its highly-anticipated business plan.
The 267-page document illustrated how a Tasmanian team could viably enter the competition by 2025 with minimal financial assistance from the AFL.
Last Sunday marked exactly one year since the report was released, with barely a murmur from the AFL about if, or when, Tasmania could secure a licence.
That could be about to change.
After postponing talks with Hawthorn and North Melbourne, who are both in the final year of five-year deals with the state, Premier Peter Gutwein has upped the stakes.
A letter sent to the AFL this week threatened to drop both deals should the state not be given a timeline for the establishment of its own team.
The government expects a response from the AFL within a few days.
"The Premier has recently written to the AFL in relation to Tasmania's continued bid for an AFL licence," a government statement read.
"We understand that there was an AFL Commission meeting this week which included discussion on a potential Tasmanian AFL licence.
"The Premier has had a telephone conversation with [AFL boss Gillon McLachlan] subsequent to this meeting and been advised that he will receive a response to his letter in coming days."
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