Official Opening of ABC Studios Parramatta
ABC Chair Kim Williams AM
18 February
Good evening, distinguished guests and friends, one and all.
It’s a happy occasion that brings so many dedicated and talented Australians together to celebrate a milestone for the ABC, for Parramatta, and indeed for Greater Western Sydney (GWS).
I’d like to formally acknowledge and welcome Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns, the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland, Senator Maria Kovacic, Dep Whip for the opposition in the Senate representing the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Peter Dutton, The Hon. Dr Andrew Charlton, Member for Parramatta and the Hon. Daniel Mookhey, MLC, Treasurer of NSW and Ms. Julia Finn MP, Member for Granville.
And there is also a strong cohort of local government officials with the Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Councillor Martin Zaiter, and the Deputy Lord Mayor, Cr Cameron MacLean and the Lord Mayor of Cumberland City Council Mayor Ola Hamed.
It is a real pleasure to have them with us, along with so many other distinguished leaders and citizens of Western Sydney.
And I’d like to thank the Prime Minister for the first live, on-set TV interview here in the new Parramatta building.
Let that set the example for regular visits to ABC Parramatta by Australian leaders across many domains…and for many generations to come.
In 2022, in the first of his Boyer Lectures for the ABC, Indigenous leader and orator Noel Pearson summed up Australia as a land of ‘three stories’.
He spoke of, ‘the Ancient Indigenous Heritage which is Australia’s foundation, the British Institutions built upon it, and the adorning Gift of Multicultural Migration.’
Parramatta is where these three stories meet – quite profoundly.
Here we have the ‘Ancient Indigenous Heritage’ of the Burramattagal people who settled along the Parramatta River more than 60 thousand years ago.
I pay my respect to Burramattagal Elders, past and present. I warmly acknowledge all the clans of the Darug nation, and their enduring custodial role over the land and waterways in this region.
In 1788, Parramatta became the second British settlement in Australia, just months after Sydney. Here is where food was grown to feed a colony, and the wool and sheep industry began, and further west, the early Australian wine industry was founded. These strong economic foundations would enable the development over time of the ‘British Institutions’ based on liberty and rule of law, referred to by Noel Pearson. Over time we would grow into a nation with our own independent identity.
After the Second World War, Western Sydney became a magnet, first for the great wave of European immigrants and later for migrants from all around the world. Immigration has undoubtedly been the ‘adorning gift’ to our nation, as Noel Pearson put it. New Australians creating better lives for themselves and their children and making Australia a better place.
Today Greater Western Sydney is home to one in every ten Australians. What a testament to the richness, complexity and vitality of our ancient and modern Australia.
And it’s still growing and evolving. New stories are being told here every day. Fresh Australian endeavour flourishes, and history is being made. This area represents the third largest economic area in the nation.
So it is entirely fitting that Australia’s ABC is now prominently, substantially, indeed visibly located here, in the heart of Parramatta. This state-of-the art studio will be the template for all the ABC’s future production facilities. In this instance the ABC studios have cost the Commonwealth of Australia not one additional dollar as this whole complex has been delivered as a result of a significant rationalisation of property assets ensuring this complex and the refurbishment of the Ultimo Headquarters were delivered at zero additional financial cost to the Australian taxpayer.
As we have just seen in the short video which preceded this opening, first rate technology-flexible and adaptable spaces have now been established for news gathering and storytelling. Our teams have many more options for live and pre-recorded audio and video, while dedicated spaces have been set aside for our vital operations and graphics professionals.
Here ABC News and ABC Sydney will work together to break the stories that matter to this community.
The NSW newsroom will produce radio bulletins and digital stories, and the 7:00 PM NSW TV bulletin seven days a week.
ABC News channel will broadcast selected programming extensively.
ABC Local Sydney will operate from the radio studios with weekday and weekend programming.
ABC RN will use Parramatta as a multi-purpose hub with rotating programme and production teams.
This is quite simply a great contemporary media workspace. The best in the country and large portions of it are directly visible to the community from Parramatta Square and its mighty thoroughfares.
Further, it brings us into the heartland of Greater Western Sydney and its rich profusion of leaders in civil society: our business people, artists, academics, health workers. And, of course, all the hustle and bustle of a great urban community. It is genuinely thrilling.
I want to congratulate all those involved in conceiving this project and bringing it to a successful and timely completion. Managing Director David Anderson has calmly and decisively led the way, and it is fitting that his name is inscribed on the commemorative plaque that has just been unveiled in the foyer by Prime Minister Albanese.
Many more have worked on this project but let me briefly acknowledge:
- The eight-person Accommodation Project Steering Committee present here tonight, notably Chief Financial Officer Melanie Kleyn for her sponsorship of this project along with David Anderson and the efficient delivery at no added cost to the taxpayers of the nation.
- Damian Cronan and his Product and Technology Leadership team, with its outstanding technology architects, engineers, project managers, business analysts, change managers, technicians and co-ordinators, in particular Craig Wilson, Domhnall McInerney, Michael O’Donnell, Greg Matthews and Matt Titterton.
- Program Director Andy King, and the core project team of Eliza Morton, Sophie Milionis, Simone Boski and Christina Chidgey.
- Stephen Murray and the Property and Facilities Management team.
- Justin Stevens, Mark Davies, Patrick Emmett and the production and editorial team from News.
- Ben Latimer, Chris Scaddan and all the team at Radio Sydney.
Thank you for a job well done.