At least four councils – Canterbury-Bankstown,Liverpool,Parramatta and Blacktown – are lobbying to become the broadcaster’s home. Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour has proposed to bolster the council’s bid to create “SBS Square” in Campsie – first pitched to the federal government in 2018 – to include more sites and commercial partners,including retail developer Vicinity.
“Right now,we as a council have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,to make a new home for SBS in our city,” Asfour will tell a council meeting on Tuesday,according to a written mayoral minute that also references the late television legend Bruce Gyngell and former prime minister Paul Keating.
“It’s time for SBS to once again evolve and relocate and plant its roots into a diverse,multicultural community which aligns with its charter and values.”
Blacktown mayor Tony Bleasdale said his municipality – now the most populous in Sydney with more than 400,000 residents and 188 nationalities – was the best pick to house the multicultural broadcaster.
“SBS should be based in the most diverse city in Australia,” he said. “[It] would be a perfect fit for Blacktown City,it really would.”
Bleasdale hoped for support from federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland,whose seat of Greenway overlaps Blacktown City Council.