Sunday 27 January 2019

Labor’s policy for the Powerhouse: to stay in Ultimo with new cultural facility for Parramatta

On 20^th January, outside the Powerhouse Museum, to an enthusiastic audience from both Parramatta and Sydney city, Labor Opposition leader Michael Daley, with shadow Arts Minister Walt Secord, released a policy detailing Labor’s plans for museums and galleries if elected on 23 March. For access to Labor’s Policy and Media Release, as well as news reports and comments, see the News Chronology on our Powerhouse Museum Alliance website, from 20 January on: https://powerhousemuseumalliance.com/find-out-more/a-news-chronology/

Among commitments to regional NSW and protecting Parramatta’s heritage precincts, the policy says a Daley Labor Government will better use the allocated funding to:

• Retain and protect the Powerhouse Museum at its existing Ultimo site
• Invest $45 million over four years to make necessary repairs to the Ultimo site
• Assist with the listing of the Powerhouse Museum’s Ultimo site on the State Heritage Register, and

• Invest $500 million to create a new world-class cultural institution at Parramatta in consultation with the community.

As well, they intend to ‘restore the integrity of arts board appointments’, including reviewing ‘recent appointments to significant cultural institutions’. (Refer PMA news on website above for 22 December, 2018: ‘Powerhouse Museum board gets new look ahead of relocation’)

Continuing research:• In Find out More, and What the Experts Say, on our website, a number of informative papers are being regularly added, as available documents associated with the government’s business case and consultation process are being assessed, and policies considered. https://powerhousemuseumalliance.com/

• You may like to share and comment on our Facebook page (foot of web home page).

• If you write a letter to an editor and it is not published (where I can find it), send it to me and I’ll add it here: https://powerhousemuseumalliance.com/find-out-more/letters-to-the-editor/

• And attached, is a statement on Labor’s Cultural Policy, prepared by members of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance.

A 13th Inquiry hearing announced: 11^th February

A further, perhaps final, Inquiry hearing has now been announced, prior to the NSW state election on 23 March 2019. It will take place at NSW Parliament House on 11^th February, and times and interviewees should be identified soon. The final reporting date should be 28^thFebruary, 2019. For details check: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2403#tab-hearingsandtranscripts

Grace Cochrane AM

Saturday 19 January 2019

LABOR MAKES A PROMISE

Since the NSW Liberals announced the proposed sale of the Powerhouse Museum in 2015, our community has been campaigning tirelessly to stop it.

The people who support the Powerhouse Museum have never said that it should be at the expense of the people of Western Sydney having a cultural institution of their own. We have always said that a growing city like Sydney, that will have millions of new residents and new visitors over coming decades, can sustain both of these important cultural institutions.

Part of making this a great city for both residents and visitors is to have great spaces to visit, to preserve our beautiful historic buildings and celebrate our culture and history.

Thank you to Save the Powerhouse, the Powerhouse Museum Alliance,Deputy Lord Mayor Linda Scott and all the community groups and residents who have collected signatures, attended rallies and written letters for years. Terrific that NSW Labor have listened to this strong community campaign and made a great announcement today. ... https://www.facebook.com/BalmainElly/photos/a.422857024854128/586556658484163/?type=3&theater

THE ABC SAYS ... RELATED STORY: Powerhouse Museum's future still unclear as Parramatta move confirmed

Sydney's Powerhouse Museum would remain at its Ultimo home under a Labor plan that also promises a new $500 million museum for the city's west.

Key points:

The State Government wants to relocate the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta
Labor has promised to retain the existing Ultimo site but also build a new museum in Western Sydney
The plan has been welcomed by the Powerhouse's architect and former deputy director

The Berejiklian Government last year confirmed its intention to move the museum to a riverside site in Parramatta.

In what he described as his "first big announcement of the election campaign", Opposition leader Michael Daley today revealed the museum would not be relocated if he won the state election...... SEE https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-20/powerhouse-museum-to-stay-in-ultimo-under-nsw-labor/10730176

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$45m not enough: Powerhouse Museum's board not happy with Labor's pledge

By Sally Rawsthorne Updated20 January 2019 — Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Send via Email Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size The Powerhouse Museum's board of Trustees has slammed Michael Daley's plans to spend $45 million to keep the museum in Ultimo, claiming the funds are "insufficient". The NSW Opposition Leader on Sunday announced he would axe a controversial Liberal plan to move the Powerhouse Museum to western Sydney, instead committing $45 million to restoring the museum on its current site and $500 million on a “cultural institution” in Parramatta.

GO2 ... https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/powerhouse-museum-to-stay-in-ultimo-under-labor-20190120-p50si0.html?fbclid=IwAR3jHdTZGAKpNdx3r7sndv_-PrZlQ1cd3SCl_OwpOXSOJ-l26gd1Ny3BZKU

FOREWORD

Public 'musingplaces' – museums and art galleries – hold in their collections the cultural knowledge; cultural and intellectual property, 'public assets', relative to diverse communities of ownership and interest.

Most of the people who make up these communities, individuals and groups, have many layers of individual and shared interests and ownerships.

Sometimes these people are called stakeholders, and even audiences, but their 'ownerships' are much more deeply held than any of these descriptors might suggest.

Indeed, it would not be unusual for some of their ownerships and interests to be in conflict with each other. Consequently, it is important to identify not only 'the people' but also their ownerships and interests without conceding to an impulse to 'rank' them or some imperative to privilege one group over another.

Typically, these 'ownerships' will be deeply felt and they should be vigorously defended.

In the end all this is a matter of 'lore' rather than 'law' and for each and every individual it's a matter of identity ... and undeniably that 'matters'.”