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Save the Powerhouse - NSW Parliamentary Inquiry

Decision Maker: Council

Decision status: Recommendations Determined

Decisions:

Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) -

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         that a recent New South Wales Parliamentary Inquiry has recommended that the business case for the move of the Ultimo Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta is ‘inadequate,’ and had made recommendations against the move;

(ii)        the inquiry also recommended that the museum be ‘restored to its former glory’ by calling for major investment;

(iii)      the inquiry further recognised the importance ensuring that Parramatta is afforded its own iconic cultural institution that ‘reflects its Aboriginal, colonial and migration history';

(iv)      since the move of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to the Powerhouse in 1979 by the NSW Labor Government under Premier Neville Wran, the Museum has become an institution and important part of the City’s cultural fabric;

(v)       the announcement in 2015 by the Liberal NSW Government proposing the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo to Parramatta was met with a major public backlash; and

(vi)      both our City and western Sydney deserve world-class museums for the education of locals and tourists alike;

(B)      Council endorse the findings of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry regarding the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum; 

(C)      Council advocate strongly for the immediate restoration of artefacts to the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, and for more investment in the site into the future; and

(D)      the Lord Mayor be requested to write to the Premier of NSW, the Hon. Gladys Berejiklian and the NSW Opposition Leader, the Hon. Michael Daley expressing these views.

The motion was carried on the following show of hands:

Ayes (7)          The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Kok, Miller, Phelps, Scott, Scully and Thalis

Noes (2)          Councillors Chung and Forster.

Motion carried.

S129266

Report author: Rebekah Celestin

Publication date: 11/03/2019

Date of decision: 11/03/2019

Decided at meeting: 11/03/2019 - Council

Accompanying Documents: