Board reject 2SER proposal, bring in radio guru

By Tom Snow and Ned Stevens

Embattled community radio station 2SER faces an uncertain future after a proposed emergency funding model aimed at keeping the broadcaster on air, was reported to have been rejected at a board meeting this week, sources said.

Leading radio consultant Tony Duke was this week appointed by UTS to work on a new proposal, but has reportedly been given just nine days to come up with a plan.

The proposal, developed by a working group formed after last month’s heated town hall meeting, would have seen the station operate off a combination of current UTS funding and station-generated revenue.

Prior to Monday’s meeting former 2SER manager and member of the working group Paula Kruger, told Central News the model was intended to act as a short-term structure as the station sought out long-term funding partners.

“It’s not ideal, but the way we see it, this is just a transition period… what we’re hoping it will do is buy us more time to have conversations with potential education partners,” Kruger said.

According to Kruger under the proposed model, 2SER would operate on just over $500,000 a year, made up of UTS funds and revenue raised by the station

Sources familiar with the discussions told Central News the model was unlikely to be adopted, though no formal announcement has been made by 2SER management or the board. 

At the town hall meeting last month, James Bennett, dean of the UTS Faculty of Design and Society, and co-chair of 2SER’s board, said: “UTS’s financial and in-kind contribution is there as long as there is a viable model for 2SER to be delivered.”

Upon request for comment, UTS said it was unable to provide comment until a public announcement is made next week.

The current model doesn’t work. The question is, can we develop a new model?

James Bennett, dean of the Faculty of Design and Society 

Since Macquarie University publicly announced last October that they would cease their funding to 2SER, the station’s future has been in doubt as they face a financial shortfall of $350,000 a year, close to a third of their current funding.

Following Monday’s meeting the board appointed radio consultant Duke, who was interim chief executive of Gadigal Information Service, which operates Koori Radio, where he oversaw a significant and successful restructure of the station.

Industry insiders have described him as a radio guru who turned around Koori Radio.

Central News reached out to him for comment today, but he had not replied by the time of going to press.

The latest move by UTS comes after a town hall meeting last month where Bennett, along with members of 2SER’s board, Chris Dixon and Cheryl Northey faced questions from an angry room of roughly 100 concerned listeners, station staff and volunteers. A further 200 people joined the town hall online.

Station manager Cheryl Northey told the meeting that while 2SER had funding to the end of the year, it could be shut down as early as July without a viable future funding model, in order to pay out superannuation and other costs involved in terminating the 47-year-old station. The decision to do that would need to be made by June.

Macquarie’s executive dean of the Faculty of Arts, Chris Dixon, made it clear there was no possibility of the university reinstating its like-for-like funding with UTS, estimated at $300,000-$350,000 a year.

“After a lot of conversations within, and across the university, we made the decision about two years ago now that we would no longer support financially 2SER,” he said.

“This was one thing that was nice for us to do, but we simply could not afford it”.

UTS currently provides a little over $300,000 to 2SER a year, and has no plans to withdraw its funding from the community radio station, according to Bennett. However, that’s not enough to keep it operational and closing the station would see the money flow back into UTS’s operating budget.

“It’s not a blank cheque, [but] as long as there is a viable model, we can do it,” said Bennett, adding: “The current model doesn’t work. The question is, can we develop a new model?”

Representatives from 2SER approached the University of Sydney and UNSW as prospective funding partners in mid-March, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

However, a USyd spokesperson told Central News: “While we’ve reviewed the prospectus and acknowledge the merits and value of the proposal, we’re not able to prioritise the project at this time as our current focus is on other student experience investments.” 

When asked by a member of the audience as to why there was such a delay between Macquarie’s notification in October last year to the station, and expressions of interest for funding being sent to other universities in March 2026, Northey said: “I wouldn’t call it necessarily a delay. It takes a lot of time to work through those proposals, and the board from October onwards… spent time building those relationships… in order to be able to have those conversations.”

A spokesperson from the University of New South Wales said: “UNSW Sydney has received an approach regarding potential involvement with 2SER. No decisions have been made at this stage.”

The Minns government is facing calls to provide support to the station with State Greens MP Kobi Shetty writing an open letter to State and Federal Ministers for the Arts, John Graham and Tony Burke, asking about potential state government support and characterising 2SER as “a vital cultural and educational asset for Sydney and beyond”.

Graham’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to 2SER a spokesperson from the federal Department of the Arts said: “The Australian government recognises the important role community radio stations play as part of a vibrant and diverse media landscape… the government will continue to work with the industry to ensure local stories can be told to our local communities.”

Main image by Tom Snow.