Labor accused of broken promises as SBS stays put

MICHELLE ROWLAND PRESSER

The Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has announced SBS will not be fully relocating to Western Sydney. Source: AAP / BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE

The federal government has announced a $5.9 million investment in a new production hub for SBS in Western Sydney. The production hub will include a TV studio, radio and podcasting booths and other workspaces to enable SBS to deliver 360 hours per year of new Australian screen content. The project is expected to begin in 2025, with the first six months being spent looking for a site for the production hub.


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TRANSCRIPT

The federal government has announced it will invest $5.9 million to support an expansion of SBS to Western Sydney.

The new facility will be an additional space for SBS staff in Sydney and will include a TV studio that can host audiences, several radio and podcasting booths, collaboration spaces for talent incubation, and a number of other workspaces.

With the new production space, SBS is expected to be able to deliver around 360 hours per year of new, first-run Australian screen content, and around 1,440 hours per year of original audio and podcast content.

In a statement, Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland says the government is committed to growing and supporting SBS in its vital role.

“As Australia’s dedicated multicultural and First Nations broadcaster and one of our most trusted news brands, SBS plays a vital role in promoting social cohesion. I thank the SBS Board and management for their initiative in proposing this exciting project and look forward to working with them to bring it to fruition. SBS connects with multilingual, multicultural and First Nations communities, including in Western Sydney, and is vital to bringing diverse voices to Australian audiences. The Albanese Government is committed to growing and supporting SBS and to ensuring its unique value benefits all Australians.”

The announcement of this new production hub follows the federal government's feasibility study into relocating the public broadcaster, which was commissioned by Minister Rowland in 2023.

The study looked into the possibility of moving the SBS headquarters from Artarmon in Sydney's north to the Western Sydney region, where over half of the population speak a language other than English.

But the study has found a full relocation would be too costly.

So, the Artarmon studios will continue to operate and SBS will establish an additional presence in Western Sydney.

The project is expected to kick off in 2025, beginning with seeking a potential site for the hub in the first six months.

In a statement, SBS Managing Director James Taylor says the new hub is a great outcome for both SBS and Western Sydney communities.

"It allows us to expand our content offer for all Australians through news and current affairs, multilingual audio programs and screen content, while continuing with our existing Artarmon operations. It will boost our overall production capability and embed SBS in the Western Sydney community, where 2.7 million Australians live, including many from multicultural and First Nations backgrounds. It will also give us increased capacity to work with and build the local creative sector in Western Sydney, to tell even more Australian stories across our platforms."

But the decision to establish a production hub rather than a full relocation has sparked a mixed reaction.

Relocating SBS to Western Sydney was part of Labor's election promise back in 2019 and 2022, as part of its "Fair Go With the West" campaign.

However, the decision has long been opposed by MPs who oversaw Artarmon, which was previously under the teal MP Kylea Tink's electorate of North Sydney, and now under Liberal MP Paul Fletcher's electorate of Bradfield.
 
Both argued their electorates also had a diverse community, with North Sydney having over 50 per cent of its population born overseas, while one in four people living in Bradfield are of Chinese ancestry.

With Labor's decision not to relocate SBS to Western Sydney, Liberal-affiliated Ned Mannoun, who is the mayor of Liverpool, told The Australian the ALP will suffer from breaking its promise.

In a statement, Mr Fletcher, member of Bradfield, welcomes Labor's decision on keeping SBS in Artarmon, but says this is another election promise that Labor has failed to deliver on.

SBS News approached the coalition's spokesman David Coleman for comment.

Nevertheless, Adam Leto, CEO of the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, says a SBS presence in Western Sydney will result in more multicultural voices being heard.

"For us, it makes perfect sense to have the nation's multicultural broadcaster based in the multicultural centre of Australia. There are so many untold stories in Western Sydney. And for a long time, all of the communities were either concerned or perhaps apprehensive about sharing them. The presence of SBS provides a confidence. We think that by opening up the doors, this could be a really important hub for activity and for conversation in the region."

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