Federal Government Slammed for SBS “Insult”

News that the Federal Government has walked away from plans to fund an SBS hub in Western Sydney has been slammed as an insult by local advocacy group, the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue.

The decision follows plans announced less than a year ago of a multi-million-dollar SBS expansion into Western Sydney, broadening the broadcaster’s presence in one of the nation’s fastest-growing and most diverse regions.

Dialogue Chairman Christopher Brown AM, who has publicly championed a relocation of the multicultural broadcaster to the West for over a decade, condemned the decision as a broken promise.

“This is an outrageous insult to the people of Western Sydney, especially its multicultural communities,” Mr Brown said.

“Coupled with a recent decision to prioritise the city over the West in the High Speed Rail route, the region is becoming disillusioned with Canberra’s attitude toward the region that delivered Labor so many seats.

“While we are broken-hearted by the ministerial decision, we won’t cop crocodile tears from the SBS Board and executive who have opposed any move to the west for years. 

“SBS should stop the false disappointment, use its own money to rent some space in Bankstown or Liverpool for now. The new South West Metro will deliver staff door-to-door between the Artarmon head office and a regional studio while we campaign in the lead-up to the 2028 election for the money to complete the job.

“The Dialogue has pushed this for a decade and regularly stood alongside proud local Labor politicians who promised we would see our broadcaster in our community. This decision has not only broken a promise to local voters but to its own MPs.

“We saw how moving the ABC out to Parramatta has paid off. Putting their journalists, producers and storytellers in the middle of the city’s most diverse communities has allowed them to share Sydney’s multicultural and suburban voices. It’s a crying shame that the Government has failed to reflect that success for the recalcitrant SBS.”

The Dialogue has also called for the SBS business case to be made public so rejected communities and the local councils who tabled their own bids to host SBS can better understand this decision.

“This crusade isn’t over yet,” Mr Brown said. “We need to have SBS based in Western Sydney and will keep fighting for that.”