SBS issues special message about multiculturalism as its World Cup coverage ends – after Pauline Hanson pledged to shut it down and called for a monoculture
SBS, Australia's multicultural broadcaster, marked the end of its World Cup coverage with a pointed on-air message championing multiculturalism, coming shortly after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson pledged to defund and shut down the broadcaster if her party gained power, calling instead for Australia to adopt a "monoculture". The broadcaster's statement is being read as a direct rebuttal to Hanson's comments, reaffirming SBS's role in serving Australia's diverse communities and highlighting the World Cup coverage as an example of that mission in action.
SBS has long broadcast international football, including the World Cup, to Australia's many migrant communities who follow teams from their countries of origin, making the tournament a flagship demonstration of its multicultural remit. Hanson, a longstanding critic of multiculturalism and immigration policy, has repeatedly targeted SBS funding as part of her broader push for assimilationist cultural policy, and her latest pledge reignited debate over the broadcaster's future and purpose just as its World Cup coverage concluded.
- SBS issued a pro-multiculturalism message as World Cup coverage ended
- Pauline Hanson had pledged to shut down SBS and impose a monoculture
- Statement seen as a direct response to Hanson's remarks
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of SBS argue that a dedicated multicultural broadcaster serves a genuine public good in a nation built substantially through immigration, giving migrant communities a trusted, in-language connection to news, culture and, in cases like the World Cup, the sporting passions of their countries of origin. They see this as strengthening rather than weakening social cohesion, since feeling seen and represented tends to ease integration rather than obstruct it, and point to SBS's charter role and decades of service as evidence the model works and reflects Australia's lived diversity.
The case against
Critics such as Hanson and her supporters argue that publicly funded, culturally segmented broadcasting can entrench separate identities rather than build the shared national culture they believe underpins long-term social cohesion and trust between citizens. They contend taxpayer money would be better directed towards a unified public broadcaster serving all Australians equally, question whether a niche service still justifies its cost when content like the World Cup could be carried by mainstream channels, and frame their position as a good-faith argument for national unity rather than opposition to migrants themselves.