Attack on Powerhouse Museum’s Parramatta move by prominent Aussies including Cate Blanchett labelled ‘elitist’

ACTRESS Cate Blanchett is among a list of prominent Australians told to ditch their suburb snobbery after protesting the government’s plan to move the Powerhouse Museum to western Sydney.

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr is among those who signed a letter protesting the Powerhouse’s Museum move to Parramatta. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts).

LIKE it or not, the Powerhouse Museum will be relocated to western Sydney, Parramatta state Liberal MP Geoff Lee says.

Mr Lee maintained the State Government would not break its election promise of moving the Ultimo-based museum to Parramatta.

He was responding to a report in a Fairfax paper, which states that 170 prominent people, including Cate Blanchett and former NSW Premier Bob Carr, signed an open letter calling on the government to reconsider shifting the Powerhouse to a site in Parramatta.

The full page letter is titled Please Don’t Destroy the Powerhouse.

“We support the creation of a distinctive cultural beacon in Parramatta, but to transport a pared-back small scale Powerhouse would be folly,” the letter says.

“It is very disappointing the inner city residents and eastern suburb residents not giving western Sydney a fair go. They want all the toys for themselves,” an angry Mr Lee said.

“The Powerhouse is definitely going to western Sydney. We promised it.”

Parramatta state Liberal MP Geoff Lee says people against the museum’s relocation to western Sydney should be ashamed of themselves.

Mr Lee said he encouraged the people against the museum’s relocation to take a tour of Parramatta to see how “wonderful and diverse the area is.”

The government announced the museum would move to Parramatta in 2014, with plans to sell off its current site to developers. There has been some resistance to the museum’s relocation.

Sydney independent state MP Alex Greenwich last year presented parliament with a petition of 10,000 signatures protesting the move.

“It is elitism. We want to encourage people to come to Parramatta and see what western Sydney has to offer. What’s wrong with relocating the museum?” Mr Lee said.

“They should be ashamed. And Bob Carr did a good job didn’t he? He said Sydney was full and that we couldn’t plan for anything.”

Mr Lee said he was planning to speak on the issue in parliament next week.

Sydney Business Chamber Western Sydney director David Borger called the open letter an “up yours to western Sydney.”

“It’s just very powerful people who frankly have never been in any discussions about western Sydney saying it shouldn’t be moved. This should be about giving people access to the cultural riches of the state,” Mr Borger said.

Actor Cate Blanchett doesn’t want the Powerhouse Museum moved to western Sydney. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr is among those who signed a letter protesting the Powerhouse’s Museum move to Parramatta. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts).

Deputy Premier and Arts Minister Troy Grant said the government was in the middle of a museum feasibility study and site selection.

Mr Grant said the government remained committed to delivering on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a new museum for the future in western Sydney and also providing a vibrant new cultural destination for the state.

“While 170 people said in a letter they are fixated on Ultimo, my focus is on delivering this cultural institution for the people of Parramatta and western Sydney,” he said.

“Western Sydney deserves a state of the art cultural institution and that’s exactly what the government will deliver. Parramatta will be a superb home for the Powerhouse and the community stands ready to embrace it.”

Mr Grant said the new museum would see more of the Powerhouse’s collection utilised with the potential to have thousands of new and additional exhibits on display.

“We expect audiences, including school groups, will be lining up to visit the reimagined Powerhouse and it will a be great addition to the State’s cultural offerings.”

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) has also criticised the latest campaign to stop the museum from moving to Parramatta.

WSROC President Tony Hadchiti said suggestions that the integrity of the Powerhouse Museum as a key cultural institution would be undermined by a move to Parramatta were ridiculous.

“Western Sydney is not some culturally-barren outpost. Parramatta is the geographical centre of Sydney, and just half an hour down the road from Ultimo,” Cr Hadchiti said.

“This really shows the strong regional bias that still exists in the minds of some inner-city residents, and I challenge those who have signed the petition to come out and see what western Sydney has to offer,” he said.

“Suggestions that moving the Powerhouse to Parramatta would weaken its undisputed skills and potentially damage exhibitions is, quite frankly, insulting to both the museum’s staff and the arts and cultural professionals of western Sydney,” he said.

“If the Powerhouse were to open further satellite sites, we should be looking at places further afield such as Blacktown, Liverpool, Penrith or the Blue Mountains, all of which have well established arts cultures,” he said.

“The Powerhouse will move west thanks to the NSW Government, and we hope this is just the first of many steps reducing the arts funding divide between Sydney’s regions.”

Western Sydney Arts and Cultural Lobby spokesman David Capra said the lobby supported the Powerhouse’s move to Parramatta.

“We hope the move will open additional support of cultural programs already in the region. We have seen existing institutions – the Powerhouse Youth Theatre in Fairfield and the Campbelltown Arts Centre really engage with the community successfully, and we hope the Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta can do the same thing. I think there’s great opportunity for the Powerhouse to further develop its audience within the region. And the community will embrace it, like it does with all arts,” Mr Capra said.