In a show of bipartisan unity, Victorian upper-house MPs have called for public broadcaster SBS to be based in one of Melbourne’s multicultural hotspots such as Dandenong.
Liberal upper house MP Evan Mulholland, who brought the successful motion in State Parliament on 18 June, said it sent a message to those living in Broadmeadows or Dandenong.
“If you come from a migrant background … Victorian members of Parliament want you to feel connected to your community, want SBS to be located in your community and want to see you employed in your community with the jobs that would create.”
He noted the multilingual and multicultural broadcaster’s NSW-centric focus – with just 14 per cent of staff based in Victoria.
The Federal Government had also recently announced western Sydney as home to a new SBS production hub.
This was despite Victoria becoming “more diverse” and “growing faster” than NSW, he said.
“It is meant to be the Special Broadcasting Service, but it may as well be called the Sydney Broadcasting Service.”
In opposition, Libertarian South-East Metropolitan MP David Limbrick said he didn’t support SBS having a “physical presence anywhere”.
Viewers could watch “TV from any part of the world” on streaming platforms, and before that on satellite TV, he said.
“I have both friends of my family and friends of my kids from the Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian, Russian and Ukrainian communities, just about every community that you can imagine, and I have never heard any of them talk about the SBS.”
Labor South-East Metropolitan MP Michael Galea backed an SBS Dandenong headquarters.
He said he’s spoken to people in the South East who value and enjoy SBS, as well as thriving new media like the Dandenong-based Australian Multicultural Media Centre (AMMC).
“(SBS) provides a very unique type of media and entertainment and news and factual information as well to communities that often do not get to have their voices, their stories represented in the broader mainstream media.”
Liberal arts spokesperson David Davis noted Greater Dandenong, Monash and Hume were among the councils who had “stepped forward” to host SBS’s headquarters.
Greater Dandenong mayor Jim Memeti was unaware if Greater Dandenong had pushed for it but said he’d be a “huge supporter” of the idea.
“It would be fantastic if Dandenong could be the headquarters,” adding that it would be within a South East region of about 1.5 million.
“We’re definitely a leader of multiculturalism, there’s so many stories to tell.
“It would be great to have SBS in the heart of the most multicultural community in Australia.”
AMMC founder Hussen Mahamad said Dandenong was the “most deserving” location.
“We’ve got a lot of media here, a lot of activity,” said Mahamad – who founded AMMC in Dandenong due to a lack of diverse representation in the Australian media.
Representation was improving in mainstream media, but Mahamad would like to see substantial changes at SBS.
For instance, its multilingual content targeted an ageing demographic born overseas. But it had little relevance with younger, English-speaking generations born in Australia.
SBS declined to comment on the Parliamentary debate.
In a State Parliament inquiry into cultural and creative industries, SBS submitted that it had a substantial 50-year history in Victoria.
It submitted it had a “highly visible office” in Federation Square, Melbourne that delivered multicultural media services for all Australians and significant on-the-ground presence across the state.
It produced content such as National Indigenous Television, news, audio and entertainment, with many language programs produced exclusively in Melbourne.
