Speech - SBS 50th anniversary

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay 

24 June 2025

Speech - SBS’s 50th anniversary - Admiralty House, Sydney, NSW

Your Excellency Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, parliamentary colleagues, and the SBS leadership team here tonight.

As Shadow Minister for Communications, it is an honour to be representing Opposition Leader, Sussan Ley, in joining you to celebrate 50 years of Special Broadcasting Service - our SBS - a broadcaster woven into the very fabric of Australia’s cultural story.

I want to begin with a simple truth - a strong democracy requires a strong media. One that is fair, balanced, independent and trusted.

That is what SBS represents in our national landscape. Not only must it be protected, but it also must be strengthened for decades to come, because it is the informed voices of the last 50 years, projected by SBS that have formed part of our country’s dialogue that helps hold us together.

Delicately sewn into the fabric of our society, all those years ago in June 1975 when two pioneering radio stations - 2EA in Sydney and 3EA in Melbourne - began multilingual broadcasts in a handful of languages.

The early SBS programs were more than translation, they were putting markers in the sand for multicultural Australia. They were showing people who had migrated to our country from all over the world that Australia was a country where they belonged.

This bold initiative was championed by the Whitlam Labor Government. And it was Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who ensured the vision endured - launching multicultural television and establishing SBS in 1980.

From the small number of languages to 63 today, SBS has grown with - and for - Australia. I think it is the personal stories and experiences that have helped SBS grow. Including my own.

My father came to Australia from Austria in the 1950s, seeking peace, possibility and a better life.

Like many migrants, he carried both the memories he wanted to forget of war time Europe, along with those that he longed to keep. This is very much the Australian-European migrant story of that era.

It is SBS that has given this story - and all the stories – a home.

A broadcaster built on the belief that Australia has many stories, of many languages, and every accent holds something worth hearing.

I was born in 1977, into an Australia just beginning to find its multicultural voice. And as a 1980s kid, my childhood is dotted with SBS moments.

It is apt that in the 1980s, SBS adopted the slogan “Bringing the World Back Home.”

For many it brought the familiar back into reach - through language, culture, and screens that suddenly felt less foreign . . . and more like belonging.

It was the 1980s that SBS introduced Australia to European soccer.

In the 1980s, SBS introduced us to subtitled films - from Austria, Germany, France and Italy to name a few. These I generally was not allowed to watch.

Just like soccer wasn’t just soccer, the foreign movies subtitled in English weren’t just movies. They were echoes of languages, places and people left behind. They were the humour and heartbreak of old home.

SBS didn’t just screen these foreign films - it honoured them.

And in doing so, it honoured families like mine.

And my final memory of SBS 1980s might be my favourite and it came in 1983 when Eurovision entered our homes from Munich, through Sequins. Satire. Song.

Fast forward to 2005, which was still 20 years ago, SBS came to my own backyard - Penrith - to broadcast the Canoe Slalom World Championships.

My husband, Stuart McIntosh - also born in June 1975, was one of the competitors. For Great Britain.

That day, SBS wasn’t just covering a sport- it was telling a story about an international competition that saw 50 countries come to my home patch.

Long before canoe slalom was cool thanks to the amazing talents of local Penrith girl Jess Fox . . . SBS saw its value.

From 1975 to 2025, with everything it has given Australia, SBS has stayed true to its founding purpose.

As one guiding statement puts it:

“SBS was founded on the belief that all Australians, regardless of geography, age, cultural background or language skills, should have access to high-quality, independent, culturally relevant media.”

In a media landscape shaped by noise and division, SBS holds the line on fairness, balance, and clarity. And that is extremely important.

It doesn’t chase headlines - it earns trust.

As I said in my opening remarks, in our democracy, that kind of broadcasting isn’t just valuable - it’s essential.

I want to acknowledge the professionalism and contribution of SBS staff and board - past and present - who have contributed to this strong reputation of SBS in building not just a broadcaster, but a national treasure.

On closing, I have a reflection on Western Sydney - my home, and the beating heart of multicultural Australia, where more than half the population speaks a language other than English at home.

I am pleased that on the continued journey of SBS, there is a commitment to a film and radio hub in Western Sydney, and I hope it flourishes. When SBS invests in our suburbs - it strengthens our nation, and that’s how we ensure every community, every culture, every story, has a place on the national stage.

As Malcolm Fraser said just after the launch of SBS it is also “so that Australians can learn and benefit from each other’s heritages.”

SBS is a broadcaster, yes. But as is said - it is also a bridge. A mirror. A mosaic. And most definitely an educator, and a builder of stronger communities.

It is “Fifty years of telling the stories of all Australians.”

Happy 50th, SBS - and thank you for continuing to bring the world back home.