The folks at SBS are having a mighty, mighty hard time locking down a suburb for season 2 of their show ‘Struggle Street’, which is intended to document the lives of residents in some of Australia‘s low income areas. The first season, set in Sydney‘s Mount Druitt, copped bucketloads of controversy for being sensationalist – even though the show itself wasn’t quite as bad as its very tastelessly cut trailer implied.
But that controversy has been enough to spook government and community in some of the areas the show is scoping out. The current area they’re planning to shoot in Inala in Brisbane‘s southwest, and residents aren’t keen on season one.
Residents in Brisbane’s south-west are fighting SBS’s plans to film series two of ‘Struggle Street’ there. #9Today https://t.co/Es1u8KjFSQ
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) May 18, 2016
“It’s a tough call,” Inala resident Vanessa Peggy told A Current Affair. “Yes, you want to raise awareness of those situations. But no, you don’t want it portrayed as you choosing to live that way.”
Election candidate and former Inala councillor Milton Dick has started a petition urging SBS to stay away from his suburb, which he claims is actually developing very quickly. He points to million-dollar-plus housing valuations in the area as evidence.
“I’ll be encouraging the community to have their say, to send a very clear message to SBS, to their management, hands off Inala,” Mr Dick said.
And now Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland, agrees. “The last thing we want to see is people turn a negative spotlight on a suburb just so they can have a laugh at a couple of issues or a couple of incidents,” she said on Wednesday.
SBS has issued a statement on the matter. “We anticipate stories of resilience, community support and family love in what will be compelling and insightful storytelling that doesn’t shy away from the realities of hardship faced by millions of people.”
Welp. Looks like no one’s keen on hosting those stories of resilience, community support and family love right now.
Source: Nine.
Photo: SBS.
