SYDNEY, Australia — Staff members at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and their sister publications at Fairfax Media, among the most powerful voices in the Australian news media, began a weeklong strike on Wednesday over job cuts.

Fairfax management said this week that the company would need to trim 30 million Australian dollars, or about $22.5 million, from its editorial budget. On Wednesday morning, the company sent an email to staff members saying it would cut 125 full-time positions at The Morning Herald and The Age, with some also expected at The Australian Financial Review.

“While we will be looking across all parts of the newsroom, at the end of the redundancy program we expect there will be significantly fewer editorial management, video, presentation and section writer roles,” wrote Sean Aylmer, editorial director at Fairfax Media.

The strike would last until Wednesday, a day after the country’s federal budget is released. The budget typically receives heavy attention in the news media.