Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun has called on the voters of Western Sydney to let their local Federal MPs know a big mistake has been made.
"The decision to pull the funding for SBS to move from the leafy north shore of Sydney to multicultural Western Sydney is a retrograde betrayal of hope and ambition," Mayor Mannoun said.
"Liverpool Council has been calling for this for around 11 years and for it to be dumped at the last minute is a massive betrayal of trust," Mayor Mannoun said.
"Let's be clear: Southwestern Sydney is Australia's multicultural heart, it beats in Liverpool, and that's where our multicultural broadcaster should have been located.
"It's where more than 140 cultures live, work and thrive, and where over 150 languages are spoken every single day.
"Yet the nation's multicultural broadcaster has now been effectively told by the government to stay put. The message is unmistakable: multiculturalism and Western Sydney simply don't matter to Canberra.
"The voters of Western Sydney should be furious. This is not just a broken commitment, it's a snub, a downgrade, a clear sign that the west is still being treated as second-class.
"This decision isn't just disappointing, it's a blatant insult to the most multicultural region in the country and a kick in the guts to the millions of people who call Western Sydney home," Mayor Mannoun said.
"Council did everything asked of it, and more. We followed every requirement to the letter. We invested heavily because SBS made its criteria non-negotiable. We got involved because it had Federal Government backing. Now, the federal government has walked away without warning.
