A government-backed Tasmanian bid was prepared in response to the AFL admitting new licences for the Gold Coast and Western Sydney for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. While the AFL admitted that the state had put together a stronger business case, it was once again rejected by the league. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou was quoted to have said to the Tasmanian premier Paul Lennon "Not now, not ever". Hobart's major daily newspaper The Mercury started a petition in response to this news on 16 April 2008. The premier vowed to bypass the AFL CEO and take the appeal directly to the AFL Commission.