Congratulations to the Hawthorn Football Club on winning the AFL Grand Final today and putting Tassie on the map.
It was a sensational win for the team that went in as underdogs, yet defeated the Sydney Swans by 63 points.
I'm sure Tasmanians are looking forward to joining the celebrations when the Hawks bring the Premiership Cup to our state on Wednesday.
Tasmanians have embraced the club over its 14-year tie with our state, with more than 8,700 Tasmanian members accounting for 13 per cent of its membership.
There's no doubt Tasmania's partnership with Hawthorn delivers great economic, social and recreational benefits.
Over the past year more than 55,000 fans have watched the Hawks play in Tasmania, and about one in three travels from interstate to get boundary-side.
It's a great boost during the traditionally quieter winter months, and will help reach our target of attracting 1.5 million visitors to Tasmania every year by 2020.
The Hawks 11 home games also provide enormous marketing and promotional exposure for our island state, with media exposure in 2013 valued at $7.9 million.
And for the past three years, the Hawks have put Tasmania in front of one of the greatest national and worldwide audiences when they ran onto the MCG on Grand Final day.
The club also provides incredible grass-roots engagement, visiting clubs, councils and charities across 50 communities and engaging 45,000 students through the Tassie Hawks schools program.
We congratulate the Tassie Hawks on yet another great season and look forward to getting behind them again in 2015.