$67.2m costs in ABC Parramatta move, Ultimo refurbishment.
Here's how ABC is allocating costs to its new move to Parramatta and Ultimo upgrade.
- Published by David Knox
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ABC will spend $67.2m on its “Sydney Accommodation Project” move to a new Parramatta base and refurbishment of its Ultimo headquarters, following the $95m sale of its former Artarmon site.
Sydney Morning Herald reports $27.8 million will be spent on the “modernisation and refurbishment” of the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters, including $25.4m in refurbishment.
$39.4m will be spent on the Parramatta base, of which $12.2m is fitout, and $23.6m in technology.
“Reinvestment in the Ultimo site will improve the working environment and facilities available to remaining teams and importantly will provide an opportunity for the ABC to sub-lease some of its facilities and gain an ongoing revenue stream,” ABC said in a statement.
ABC is planning to move 236 staff members to Parramatta. More than 100 come from the NSW newsroom, ABC News channel and current affairs teams.
ABC Managing director David Anderson previously told a Parliamentary Committee on Public Works the fit-out does not require government funds.
“We will fund it through the sale of our property at Artarmon on Sydney’s north shore and by leasing out space in our Ultimo head office,” he said.
“ABC Parramatta will include a state-of-the-art studio, from where we’ll broadcast the NSW 7pm News and at least one block of News Channel programming.
“Teams will have access to a variety of spaces for live and pre-recorded video and audio, including seven audio and six video production suites.”
The ABC is also expecting to base 45 positions from the Radio National, education, arts and music teams in Parramatta along with 40 staff from ABC Radio Sydney and its lifestyle division, ABC Everyday.
The new bureau will be operational by 2024.
7 Responses
It will still be the same biased left wing organisation when it moves out there and so it’s a waste of money. You can move them to the moon and they will still be the same toxic labour loving, anti conservative and biased media station in this country!
Long time reader of TVT, I registered tonight just to post how happy I am that this move is happening.
Not for the cost of the move, but the attempt to make the ABC a far more inclusive organisation and much more aware of the fact it’s a national organisation.
As someone who lived 10 minutes away from the HQ in Ultimo, and now resides 100km away – it’s chalk and cheese the range topics that are covered are simply not relevant if you live more than 20-30km away from the city.
As someone who also travels to every corner of this country fairly regularly I also see how poorly the ABC covers everything when it comes from Ultimo. The further away I am the more obvious it becomes.
I would argue the ABC should do more to decentralise from the Sydney CBD, it can only lead to a better outcome for consumers of content rather than the agendas of the employees.
The difference in what matters in urban areas, suburban areas, and rural areas is significant. I don’t know if ABC’s move from Ultimo is going to help improve coverage of topics that are more relevant to rural areas, but it could help improve coverage of topics that are more relevant to suburban areas.
It would be great if the ABC could produce nightly TV news bulletins in regional areas to provide better coverage of topics that are relevant to those communities. Let the Sydney bulletin focus on urban and suburban issues, and allow bulletins for Orange, Wollongong, Dubbo, etc. to cover rural issues.
what a waste of money. What material improvements will come from shifting staff from office A to office B a few kilometres away. Might be a small boost for the baristas and takeaway shops of Parramatta, at least.
But $67m could fund a lot of jobs in our national broadcaster.
During a cost of living crisis when we are all being told to tighten our belts, which includes a tax hike for 10 million Australians at tax time. Let’s call out the hypocrisy of tax payer money being spent in such a way.
I’d have no issues if this was being spent on content, not new digs.
Did you read the article? No government funds are being used. It’s using already established ABC funds.
ABC is doing its bit for climate change –
You won’t have to worry about skin cancer in that building behind “permanently in shadow”,