Taxpayers to fork out $500 million to keep Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo
A secret report estimates it will cost close to $500 million to upgrade Sydney’s iconic Powerhouse Museum.
The report, revealed by The Daily Telegraph, comes days after Labor backflipped on its bipartisan support to move the museum to Parramatta in Sydney’s west.
Opposition leader Luke Foley now says it should stay at Ultimo and the west should instead be given a performance space.
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin says “it’s a big decision”.
“Whatever happens, there’s a significant amount of taxpayer money involved,” he tells Chris Kenny.
“For too long people have just been assuming a decision to leave this museum at Ultimo came at no cost… but [the museum] really needs now a lot of work.
“We think that western Sydney, that Parramatta, deserves an iconic world-class museum and that’s what we’re planning.”
Listen to the full interview below