ABC boss Kim Williams takes aim at his own journalists amid revolt against its new Parramatta office

ABC chairman Kim Williams has again criticised his own journalists over the quality of news the national broadcaster publishes.

Williams, who succeeded Ita Buttrose as chair in March, was a guest at the Byron Writers Festival in Byron Bay last weekend, where he was interviewed by former 7.30 Report presenter Kerry O’Brien.

O’Brien persuaded Williams to discuss the output of the ABC’s news department, which he had described as “unsatisfactory” at a staff meeting earlier this month.

Williams made the comments as staff continue to criticise the relocation of the ABC’s Sydney headquarters from the CBD to the city’s western suburbs.

“I think on the one hand we tend to have too much news and current affairs that are filler and bland,” Williams told the audience of Byron, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“I think sometimes we tend toward something that is more tabloid than what I would consider a national responsibility.”

However, he blamed the ABC’s demise primarily on lack of funding, particularly a 13.7 percent cut during the coalition government’s time in power.

“The ABC that I inherited is one that has been seriously depleted over time,” he said.

Williams infamously criticised the output of the ABC’s news department earlier this month, calling it ‘unsatisfactory’ at a staff meeting

Williams claimed that the cuts at the ABC have made the channel “a little more timid”, “a lot less confident” and “unfortunately, in my opinion, much more domestically focused”.

ABC employees have ‘grumbled’ about the broadcaster’s move to its new Parramatta office, citing longer travel times and difficulties finding broadcast talent. The Australian reported.

Since May, staff have moved to the rented location in Parramatta, after ABC CEO David Anderson and Buttrose, then chairman, made a decision in 2021.

The ABC plans to relocate about 300 staff to the new location in a $39 million project to improve its service to the western suburbs, which Williams describes as “the fastest growing residential area in the country.”

‘The move of local news and local radio to Parramatta is a new chapter in [the ABC’s] “Adjusting history, meeting public expectations and meeting legal obligations,” he said in May.

‘The decision to establish radio and television facilities here and provide space for up to 300 employees is therefore a hugely exciting step for the modern ABC.’

ABC staff regrets the move to ‘modernise’, adding that the 25-minute journey from the city centre creates logistical problems.

“It’s a disaster, frankly,” one worker claimed.

‘Almost everyone complains about the travel time (to Parramatta) and no one really sees the point of it.

‘If the whole idea was that we needed to work more closely with the people of Western Sydney, then it has been a failure.

‘Why should presenters who live in studios be moved out of the CBD?

‘Not only do journalists still have to do a large part of their work in the city, but presenters who used to like to come to the studio for a personal conversation are now reluctant to do so.’

Williams’ comments come amid a staff revolt against the relocation of the ABC’s headquarters from Sydney’s CBD to Parramatta, in the city’s western suburbs (pictured, the view from the new office)

Williams (left) claimed that the cuts at the ABC had left the channel “a little more timid”, “a lot less confident” and “unfortunately in my opinion much more domestically focused”.

Several other ABC insiders said the move could cost the network some of its top TV talent.

ABC Sydney Drive presenter Richard Glover is reportedly one of the most outspoken critics of the new Parramatta office, with his views made public in a column he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald in June.

The title of the piece was: ‘Give me back my landline, my desk drawers, and my boring old office.’

The piece was seen by many as Glover’s “de facto public complaint” against the ABC.

All ABC Sydney radio programs are broadcast from the Parramatta office during the week, with the exception of Craig Reucassel’s breakfast program.

Reucassel is expected to start working at the new location soon.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ABC for comment.