Historic Lithgow arms museum in fight for its life
A small band of never-say-die volunteers is battling to save one of Australia’s most important firearms museums.
A small band of never-say-die volunteers is battling to save one of Australia’s most important firearms museums after the site’s owner, French technology group Thales, reneged on a promise to save the priceless collection of historical weaponry.
The Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum houses a collection of thousands of firearms produced on the site for Australian troops serving in every conflict since World War I and holds 35,000 UNESCO-listed documents.
But the existence of the museum has been hanging by a thread since the theft of 27 antique guns last August, including a pistol gifted by the Sultan of Oman.
The robbery has kept the museum shut since, and its remaining exhibits have been moved into storage. With no reopening date in sight as the parties feud, the stand-off has now bled the museum of $95,000 in out-of-pocket security costs and there are fears it will not open again.
Meetings between museum volunteers and Thales have broken down, with the museum claiming it will now need third party mediation to resolve ownership and keep the site alive while seeking state heritage approval.
Museum custodian Donna White and secretary Kerry Guerin told The Australian that in their meetings with two vice-presidents of the group on January 31, Thales would only offer a long-term lease of the museum land.
But Ms White and Mr Guerin say prior to 2023, the French group had indicated its willingness to sell the property to the museum, a tune that changed completely after the break-in.
“One of them (the Thales vice-presidents) said that he was committed to saving the museum. He had family connections in the military right through to his grandfather and certainly wanted to save the museum, (but) then turns around and says they will not sell the buildings,” Mr Guerin said.
“It was like they had a carrot dangling in front of us.”
The factory opened in 1912 and was the site where Australian wartime machinery was built, including for both world wars. Many of the original machines, tools and items remain at the site and had been exhibited for years before the robbery in 2024.
The museum has received more than 3000 signatures for its parliamentary petition to receive funding from the NSW government – but it is far from the requirement of 20,000 signatures by March 6 needed to get the matter on the floor of parliament.
Now the custodian and secretary have enlisted heritage professional Bronwyn Hanna to help apply for state heritage listing for the museum.
While currently heritage listed on the local environmental plan of Lithgow council, the listing provides no protection as the LEP cannot force an owner to look after its building.
“It’s called demolition by neglect, and a lot of LEP-listed items are demolished by neglect. Landlords leave them alone rather than fix them up as a way of protesting the listing, I think,” Dr Hanna said.
“Under the state heritage register, you can’t do that. The state has the power to enforce minimum standards of maintenance and repair,” she added.
Dr Hanna, who previously worked at the State Heritage Office for 12, years became interested in the site during her time there, before taking the case when she started her own practice.
She said the process can take up to six months and will go through multiple rounds of meetings before approval, but confirmed the site had already passed its first major roadblock and was up for consideration by the Heritage Council in the first half of 2025.
“If the museum was disbanded I think it would be the end of that collection. I don’t know if there’s anywhere else it could go,” Dr Bronwyn said.
A spokesperson for Thales Australia said the Lithgow Small Arms Factory site was a nationally critical defence facility that supported the local economy and more than 100 local jobs and could not be carved up.
“Thales Australia must ensure the facility remains able to meet Australia’s needs in a changed strategic environment, which would include the ability to surge and grow in the future,” the spokesperson said.
“Thales Australia has repeatedly offered the museum association a free, long-term lease similar to the free, long-term lease the museum has operated under for more than 25 years, including paying for the museum’s services such as electricity, rates and water.
“Thales Australia has also offered to store the museum’s weapons in its Lithgow armoury as preferred by NSW police, and at no cost, until it can complete upgrades required by police to allow it to reopen.”
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