Communities in remote south-west Queensland now have a better link to the rest of Australia, with the national broadcaster opening its first bureau in Charleville.
For some locals, the new two-person team is a sign regional communities will now have their voices heard and their stories shared to a wider audience.
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.
The ABC committed to investing the revenue in regional and rural journalism.
ABC managing director David Anderson travelled from Sydney for the opening and said the growing presence in regional Australia was vital to communities outside capital cities.
"[It's important] to have our people in regional communities when policies are done and decisions are made, and to have people on the ground in those regions to interpret that and analyse it as to what it means for that community," Mr Anderson said.
Federal Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud, who is also the Member for Maranoa, joined Mr Anderson in officially opening the bureau.
"[The opening of the ABC bureau] gives a sense of pride to the entire community, not just here in Charleville but to the entire region," Mr Littleproud said.
"We've been advocating for this for a long time, but David made it clear to me that as soon as he had the financial capability he'd do it [open an ABC bureau], and he lived up to his word."
Mr Littleproud said as people moved out of major cities due to COVID, having an ABC presence would help show them the unique people and way of life in regional and rural Australia.
Mr Anderson agreed, and said while the ABC would highlight issues and concerns residents had, it would also tell positive stories.
"It's not always about challenges and hardship and resilience, but it's also about celebrating who we are in regional Australia, celebrating life in rural and regional Australia," he said.
The money from the agreement with Facebook and Google is the first of its kind for the ABC.
Charleville is one of 10 new locations for the ABC, along with Batemans Bay, Warragul, Carnarvon, Hervey Bay, Gladstone, Whyalla, Northam, Swan Hill and Victor Harbor.
The ABC has boosted the number of journalists in nine existing bureaus in Horsham, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Katherine, Esperance, Karratha, Longreach and Toowoomba.
