A bid to film the second season of controversial reality television program Struggle Street in Broadmeadows has been rejected by Hume council, with mayor Helen Patsikatheodorou saying the suburb should not be “made fun of”.
SBS has commissioned a second season of the show, which looks at the social and economic hardships facing people across the country. The new series will be filmed in Queensland and Victoria.
Brimbank council has already rejected an application from production company Keo Films for the program to be filmed in Sunshine.
Cr Patsikatheodorou said Hume council did not support the application to film
Struggle Street in Broadmeadows because it did not want to see residents’ disadvantages turned into a television show’s advantage.
“We’re a proud people, with a great future and we won’t be made fun of,” she said.
An SBS spokeswoman said Struggle Street was not about specific areas of the country but rather about the issues of hardship that affect people and communities.
“The areas that we will film in are areas where challenges reflect universal socio-economic issues and where we can get first-hand stories that help audiences to engage with the broader issue,” she said.
She did not answer questions about whether SBS would pursue Broadmeadows as a filming location for season two despite the council’s stance.
Brimbank council had also rejected a permit to film the series in Sunshine.
The series is scheduled to air in late 2017.
