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The federal government has given up funding a planned SBS production hub in western Sydney, ending a years-long, multimillion-dollar bid to move the multicultural broadcaster into one of Australia\u2019s most diverse regions.<\/p>\n
An email sent out on Tuesday evening by SBS acting managing director Jane Palfreyman and obtained by this masthead has confirmed that SBS will no longer have the funds to expand into western Sydney.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/330a309b4108a5a81095196b241b4acc6221c005.jpeg\")
The government has pulled funding for an SBS production hub in western Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is disappointing that the initiative will not be progressing, given the opportunities it presented to expand SBS\u2019s facilities and content capacity, build on our existing work, tell more stories, and deepen engagement in one of Australia\u2019s most diverse and fastest-growing regions,\u201d the email said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has indicated that its decision has been made in the context of the current fiscal environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells confirmed the announcement. \u201cThe government will not be providing additional funding for the expansion proposed by SBS at this time,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to support the important work of the SBS now and into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government decision represents the end of the Albanese government\u2019s years-long attempt for the broadcaster to establish a presence in the highly diverse suburbs of western Sydney.<\/p>\n
In late 2024, the federal Labor government granted the company $5.9 million for a scoping study into a possible western Sydney production facility. SBS had established a dedicated team to plan the move and a business case for the project was developed at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
Multiple local councils and developers, including the City of Parramatta, Blacktown Council, Liverpool City Council and mega-developer Walker had all submitted expressions of interest to host the broadcaster. Local council sources confirmed the broadcaster had contacted unsuccessful parties in February.<\/p>\n
Before the decision, Blacktown Council had emerged as the forerunner for the site, which was planned to be integrated into the council\u2019s redevelopment of its CBD<\/a> with Walker.<\/p>\n The production hub would have featured a TV studio able to host live audiences, radio booths, collaboration spaces and a workspace to support production output. It was envisaged as a second base, not a replacement, for the Artarmon set-up.<\/p>\n Related Article Attempts to shift the network\u2019s headquarters date to 2019<\/a>. Before being elected to government, Labor promised to set up a feasibility study to examine the merits of moving the whole operation west. In 2022<\/a>, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the move \u201ccertainly makes sense for such a fast-growing, multicultural community\u201d.<\/p>\n Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue chair Christopher Brown, who has campaigned for the move for close to a decade, called the decision \u201can outrageous insult\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision has not only broken a promise to local voters but to its own MPs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Liberal Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun called it a \u201cbetrayal for the people of western Sydney\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was about celebrating the multicultural Australian story, a way to promote social cohesion,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead we just have a broken promise.\u201d<\/p>\n SBS declined to comment.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>. <\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dc63225d8bb80457ddd4fd149a09ddc66cb05bb8.png\")
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Ellie Busby<\/a> is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.![\"Anthony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f65f55f40f4d78896c49a1bf7a2d58e94ca3c4cf.png\")
Anthony Segaert<\/a> is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.![\"Calum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768870210_233_ed13c528ff29429d0a4267821595c52ca2cdc4cc.png\")
Calum Jaspan<\/a> is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 17, 2026 \u2014 7:41pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-546115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}