26 November, 2020
‘Analysis of documents released under SO52 order of 13 May 2020’
After months of painstaking research, Tom Lockley documents his comments on and analysis of the papers released under government Standing Order 52 about the planning process behind the move of the Powerhouse Museum.
‘Six years ago today, the Premier of the time announced that the Powerhouse Museum would be moved from Ultimo. Even at the time of the announcement the Government refused to provide evidence that any alternatives had been examined for improving the cultural facilities at the centre of population, and ever since, the Government has been very reluctant to give information about its plans.
However on 13 May 2020 the Legislative Council, with the support of all parties, sought the release of information about the project, with a list of topics relating to the project, beginning with ‘any 2019 revised business case or cost benefit analysis’.
The publicly supplied documents were received 10-14 June 2020. Physically, they consisted of 17 document boxes, containing an estimated 20,000 sheets of paper, including copies of a catalogue list of 197 pages and other smaller lists of document titles. With massive help from a small group of people an objective assessment of the documents has been prepared…
The documents received were so disappointing that it is hard to believe that this was a serious attempt to inform the public. Let us, for the sake of this exercise, assume that this is indeed a legitimate attempt meet the Legislative Council order.  Many questions arise, as listed below. The Government is invited to reply to these questions, and explain why these circumstances apply.’  Read more:  26 Nov Tom L – analysis of released documents