ABC Hervey Bay bureau a fresh news voice in Queensland as part of regional media expansion

Gardening Australia's Costa Georgiadis spent the morning at the Scarness Jetty with new reporters Jake Kearnan and Lucy Loram to officially open the new Hervey Bay office.  (ABC Wide Bay: Scott Lamond)

Queensland's Fraser Coast community will now have a stronger voice with the opening of a new ABC office staffed by two reporters. 

It is the first time the national media organisation has had a bureau in Hervey Bay.

In 1990, ABC Wide Bay moved headquarters from Maryborough to Bundaberg and it has since served the entire Wide Bay and Burnett region across radio, digital and television.

However, since the beginning of 2022, the ABC has significantly expanded its regional and rural coverage, recruiting 55 regionally based staff across the country after a financial deal with digital giants Facebook and Google late last year.

ABC managing director David Anderson said the opening of the ABC's Hervey Bay bureau represented a significant boost to its regional services on the Fraser Coast.

"I welcome journalists Jake Kearnan and Lucy Loram to our Fraser Coast team and look forward to hearing the local stories they uncover across all our broadcast platforms."

Lucy Loram has been a member of the ABC Wide Bay newsroom since last year, and was previously based in Bundaberg before relocating to the Fraser Coast. 

ABC Wide Bay chief of staff Scott Lamond said the move was an exciting opportunity.

"We've always loved telling yarns from this amazing region through the ABC Wide Bay team but now we can do it with journalists who are actually living and working in Hervey Bay," he said.

"It gives the national broadcaster greater capacity to tell unique stories on the Fraser Coast."

Jake Kearnan has worked with the ABC for a number of years, previously with ABC North Queensland and ABC Sunshine Coast. 

Mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, George Seymour, said he was excited to see the ABC investing in regional journalism.

"The ABC is the national broadcaster, it is the channel that people turn to to find out stories about Australians, to find out the breaking news," Cr Seymour said.

"There's a lot happening across the Fraser Coast, so it's wonderful to see more opportunities for young journalists and ways that people can share stories."

The Hervey Bay duo will continue to report to the Wide Bay office in Bundaberg with a focus on the Fraser Coast.  (ABC Wide Bay: Scott Lamond )

Reporters Jake Kearnan and Lucy Loram grew up in central Queensland and have both spent time in other regional bureaus, most recently with ABC Wide Bay as reporters in Bundaberg.

"It's a pleasure to be based on the Fraser Coast and covering a growing region that has so much to offer," Kearnan said.

"What drew us both to the Fraser Coast region were the kind of news stories that happen here, it is such a diverse patch," Loram said.

"But it has been the people that have totally reeled me in.

The new office is on Boat Harbour Drive and you can get in contact with our reporters via email widebay@abc.net.au.