OPINION: Queensland events left off air as the ABC concentrates resources at its Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra bureaus The gleaming glass and polished concrete exterior of the ABC's Brisbane HQ belies the turmoil inside. THE ABC's Queensland headquarters sits comfortably beside the Brisbane River at South Bank, its clean lines of glass and polished concrete exuding an aura of authority and professionalism. Inside it's Shakespeare's The Tempest. Disgruntled staff past and present will tell you of Machiavellian plots and petty jealousies and the downgrading and dismissal of staff for no good reason. The news division has been reduced to begging footage from its commercial rivals. Cabinet ministers tell me cameramen are sent to film and record interviews without journalists because there simply aren't enough reporters to go around. Adding to the disharmony was the chance discovery that staff in Brisbane are paid much less than their counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne. Why wouldn't they be cranky? Queensland staff are being told, in effect, that they are second-class citizens. While architect Richard Kirk's transparent new building may appear to champion public debate, it is something of an empty totem for our national broadcaster. This is because only one national program, Landline, comes out of Brisbane. And in the great scheme of things Landline is a niche program. With no flagship programs emanating from Brisbane, it's no wonder staff feel undervalued. It seems to me the ABC doesn't give a damn about what happens outside the Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra triangle. Major Queensland events are simply ignored by the 7.30 Report. Indeed the flagship current affairs show has just one full-time reporter responsible for covering everything that happens between Cape York and Tweed Heads. Internal dissent reached a crescendo last week after the shameful axing of Warren Boland, one of the ABC's outstanding Queensland talents. Boland's Weekends with Warren radio program on Saturday and Sunday mornings was described as a rollicking mix of entertainment, information and music and "the perfect weekend companion." And it was. Boland also called the rugby league and covered five Olympics for Aunty. Even though his show rated strongly, the 59-year-old father of four and former A grade rugby league player was offered an "involuntary redundancy" - the euphemistic way of saying you're sacked. "Boland was informed his top-rating shows were going to take "a new direction," and that he wasn't part of it," insiders told me in a written statement. Nothing unusual about that, except in this case the managers had no idea what the new direction would be. To make matters worse the ABC put out a phony press release saying Boland was leaving "to pursue new opportunities in the media" elsewhere. Not true. The suggestion that he had left for another job infuriated Boland, said friends. There was more embarrassment at Boland's farewell morning tea party where, with exquisite bad timing, he was presented with his 25-year good service medal. Boland, nevertheless, made a gracious speech recalling the highs and lows of his career. Then he injected some bitter home truths, saying: "In a number of departments over a number of years there has been a culture where management verbally abuse and intimidate, and there have been outbursts of unreasonable behaviour." Yesterday, Boland said he did speak about the ABC's "stated values and current culture" at his farewell but would not elaborate. However, he phoned back later to offer this statement: "I was shocked, disappointed and puzzled by the ABC's decision to show me the door. My ongoing ratings have been good and recent ratings particularly high and I had no reason to think I would not be continuing at the ABC. The only explanation I was given was that they were taking the program in a new direction. I wish the ABC and the staff all the best for the future. In the new year I will be looking for other opportunities in the media. ABC staff who wrote to The Courier-Mail said Boland had been treated poorly. And they named other staff they claim had been intimidated by managers. Some have made formal complaints. In fact, one overbearing manager has twice been forced to apologise for derogatory comments about staff. Discontent also followed the ousting of David Curnow in favour of Karina Carvalho to the plum 7pm newsreading job. Complaints poured in from viewers who preferred Curnow's smooth delivery. Meanwhile, staff are wondering about the whereabouts of Peter Gooch, a long-time presenter and producer who has not been seen in the station for nearly two years. His name had been taken off the roster, they said. The ABC declined to comment. Queensland Minister for Transport Scott Emerson has written to ABC managing director Mark Scott, complaining that the national broadcaster focuses on Sydney and Melbourne. THE ABC has been accused of having a Sydney-Melbourne bias and leaving Queensland out of the national debate. The accusations come from an unlikely source - Scott Emerson, Queensland's Transport and Main Roads Minister, who said in a letter of complaint to managing director Mark Scott the ABC was too focused on the southern capitals. He said: "At the opening of the ABC's South Bank headquarters early last year, I raised my concerns with you personally that the ABC was too focused on Sydney and Melbourne. The basis of my concern was that none of ABC TV's flagship news and current affairs programs were based out of Queensland. Despite the now state-of-the-art facilities in Brisbane, in the almost two years since I have raised the issue with you the situation has not improved. Your response at the time was that the ABC's national website was based in Brisbane and claimed this demonstrated both you and the ABC's strong commitment to the Sunshine State. You laughed off my offer to move the Sydney-based 7.30 in exchange for the website. In your time as managing director at least three national programs - Q&A, ABC News Breakfast and ABC News 24 - have been launched, all based out of Sydney or Melbourne. They join other flagship news and current affairs programs 7.30, Four Corners and Insiders all based out of Sydney. Such decisions entrench a situation where a Queensland perspective is sidelined from the national debate and further ensuring a Sydney-Melbourne bias in programming. Emerson speaks with professional insights. He worked for the ABC as a journalist in Sydney and Brisbane between 1988 and 1994 before switching to print at The Australian. He argues that it is not good enough for the ABC to occasionally feature some Queensland talent. "When the presenter and executive producer are based in Sydney, they will inevitably bring a Sydney perspective to the choice of subjects and questions," he said. Queensland is Australia's third most populous state with a growing influence on the Australian economy. Next year our influence globally will be important when Brisbane and Cairns host the G20 political and economic forums. Emerson told me the ABC risked becoming the Sydney Broadcasting Corporation. I think he is wrong. It already has. The ABC has been accused of undermining Bill Mellor's security after broadcasting footage that showed his home address. Picture: Darren England Source: News Limited WHEN the Premier phones and asks you to do something you have to have a really good reason to say no. So says retired brigadier Bill Mellor whose illustrious military career includes an assignment as our military strategist in Washington, commander of the Black Hawk regiment, commander of the Australian forces in Somalia, commander of Oakey Army Base and a UN observer in Kashmir. Mellor, 63, had just finished his job as Queensland's flood recovery co-ordinator and was contemplating retirement when he got the call from Campbell Newman asking him to chair the Government's anti-bikie Strategic Monitoring Team. Mellor says he is a co-ordinator of government departments including police and corrective services in the battle against the criminal bikie menace. He stresses it is a "non-operational" role. "You can't just hand (the problem) to police and expect it to be fixed," he tells me. Police need bigger tools and the help of other agencies. That's why I am here. As a graduate of the US Army College where he studied military strategy, Mellor seems to me to be well-suited to taking a helicopter view of efforts to combat outlaw bikies. Some in the media didn't see it that way. His appointment became a political football with suggestions he got the job because he was mates with Campbell Newman. People have said it's jobs for the boys. It's absolute rubbish," Mellor says. While Newman was in his company at Duntroon Military College for a year in 1982 their paths have hardly crossed since then. He has bumped into the Premier twice at wreath-laying ceremonies. They do not socialise. The ABC's coverage of Mellor's appointment was especially bizarre. The national broadcaster sparked a security alert by showing footage of Mellor's home and panning in on the street number. It was an astonishingly poor news judgment potentially exposing Mellor to sinister forces. Newman wrote to Prime Minister Tony Abbott to complain that the story on the 7pm news "seriously and maliciously undermined the security and safety" of Mellor and his family. Police had to be sent immediately to Mellor's home. Security was tightened. A formal complaint has been lodged and the ABC is investigating. Mellor's worry is that sideshows like this blur that message: "The actions against criminal gangs are working. The crime statistics are trending down. But he says it will be a long campaign. "In dismantling these gangs we have to be sure they stay dismantled," he says. Email: desmond.houghton@news.com.au Twitter: @DesHoughton