Ultimo residents pass Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker’s motion to save the Powerhouse Museum from sale
by Eliza Barr
Published March 25, 2015
More than 100 Ultimo residents have resolved to oppose Premier Mike Baird’s plan to sell the Powerhouse Museum building for apartments and relocate it to Western Sydney.
Ultimo Village Voice and Friends of Ultimo organised the meeting, where the meeting unanimously passed a motion by Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker to oppose the sale and support the construction of cultural facilities in Western Sydney.
Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker at the Inner West Courier’s Meet the Balmain Candidates forum Source: News Corp Australia
“The Powerhouse building is a Sydney icon, and it is a false economy to destroy a purpose-built museum with no guarantees it will be replaced,” Mr Parker said.
“Like all the great museums in the world, there could be several branches of the Powerhouse in the City of Sydney as well as Western Sydney.”
“The Tate has four museums in the United Kingdom, and the Smithsonian in the US has 19 museums and galleries.”
Sydney state Independent MP Alex Greenwich, public historian Shirley Fitzgerald and Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce president Lawrence Gibbons also attended the meeting.
Mr Parker said that a museum for Western Sydney should not come at the landmark’s expense.
Roll up, Roll up to the Circus exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in 2014 Source: Supplied
“Thirty per cent of people in NSW live in Western Sydney, but they only get 5.5% of state government funding, so rather than selling off this landmark for short-term returns, the Liberals should budget for a proper infusion of cultural funds for Western Sydney that reflects its status and size,” Mr Parker said.
“I’ll be reaching out to organisations in Western Sydney to build a Sydney-wide campaign to support cultural equity and oppose this sale, which is simply part of the Liberals’ privatisation agenda.”
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