“Unfinished business”: Politicians voice concerns at Powerhouse Museum inquiry

By SHARLOTTE THOU

A meeting on November 16 in NSW Parliament House allowed politicians to voice their perspectives on the proposed upgrades to the Powerhouse Museum.  

Politicians Robert Borsak (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party), Walt Secord (Labor), Jamie Parker (Greens) and Tim James (Liberal) spoke at the meeting. Borsak and Secord were members of the Select Committee, which inquired into the ‘Government’s Management of the Powerhouse Museum and other museums and cultural projects in New South Wales’.  

The inquiry highlighted a “litany of issues that should give any government pause when embarking on an infrastructure project of the magnitude and cost of the one subject to this inquiry process”, Committee Chair Hon Robert Borsak wrote.  

Via social media, Borsak voiced that “nothing about this project has ever added up”.

Inquiry findings

The inquiry resulted in 4 findings:  

1. That the NSW Government’s removal of Willow Grove from its original site has had a significant and cumulative heritage impact

2. That, when or if the NSW government reconstructs Willow Grove on its new site, the resulting structure will not be the same Willow Grove 

3. That the NSW Government’s current plans for Powerhouse Parramatta are more akin to an events centre than a museum 

4. That the NSW Government’s plan to break up the museum’s collection and strip items of context will diminish their significance as collections and adversely impact their interpretation  

Among the inquiry’s 9 recommendations is the recommendation that the NSW government “list the entire Ultimo site on a State Heritage Register and make representations to the Heritage Council of NSW to flag this as a government priority”.  

Greens MP Jamie Parker told City Hub that the inquiry was “unequivocal in its criticism of the way the government has handled the Powerhouse Museum saga” and has been “essential to shining a light on the government’s decision making”.  

“There was never a genuine business case for relocating it to Paramatta. It has been clear from the start that this was only ever a real estate deal to flog off public land to the government’s developer mates,” he added.  

Parker said there was “unfinished business…that needs to be taken to the election”.  

“We know the position of the government. What we need is a position from Labor. We want a clear difference between the Coalition and Labor,” he stated.  

Powerhouse is not saved: Community group

Speaking to City Hub, Save the Powerhouse said that the “theme and object of the meeting, “Unfinished Business”, was to highlight the fact that, contrary to popular belief, the Powerhouse Museum was NOT ‘saved’ when the NSW Government announced on 4 July 2020 that it would no longer be moved to Parramatta”.  

Save the Powerhouse aims to have the proposal cancelled, “potentially through a change of government in March 2023, and to restore the Powerhouse’s former status as Australia’s leading museum of Applied Arts and Sciences”.