Also read News Chronologies  for 11 years:2014-2019;  2020; 2021-2022; 2023-2024; 2025
And related links, including our Facebook page, and :
PHM being Destroyed not Saved: 2023 Call to action
For Inquiry into Museums and Galleries webpage: Read more
For the Inquiry Committee’s Two Final Reports: Read more  and media release Read more
For informed research, analysis and opinions, see What the Experts Say: Read more
To read about Museum history and issues with an early Heritage nomination, Read here.
‘Letters to Editors’: for related letters to the editors of newspapers, see the PMA web site, here: Read more

The News Chronologies include reports in newspapers, journals, newsletters, radio and TV,  that draw on announcements, meetings, submissions and proposals of state government, city council and museum management issues about the future of the ‘saved’ Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, and also its extra new site in Parramatta. Many experienced professional commentators provide critical observations and suggestions.

9 June, 2026 (10 in print)
‘Kylie Kwong among consultants dumped as Powerhouse cuts controversial program’
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Linda Morris writes that ‘After five years, the Powerhouse Museum is axing a highly contentious $2.6 million artistic consultants’ program amid criticism that the institution was “outsourcing by stealth” and calls by a parliamentary inquiry for greater transparency and accountability. Artist Agatha Gothe-Snape, chef Kylie Kwong, photographer Zan Wimberley and former book publisher Julie Gibbs are among nine creatives hired as artistic associates to collaborate with the Powerhouse’s curatorial, collections, writing, exhibitions and public programming teams over the lifespan of the initiative…’.
Morris then brings together considerable public criticism of the management and costs of the new Museum site, and the very often inappropriate choice of staff for future roles. She adds: ‘Since 2020, the program has been a source of deep internal tension with the Public Service Association (PSA). The union told a recent parliamentary inquiry that its members believed the associates were performing the duties of public servants, including those of in-house, professionally accredited curators.’
And, with reference to the recent government inquiry by Portfolio Committee No. 6 – Transport and the Arts, detailed earlier on this PMA news link, she notes: ‘The inquiry into arts funding recommended the museum restore and retain specialised in-house curatorial expertise and positions consistent with the museum’s legislative purpose. It called for the museum to publish the cost, purpose, duration, selection process and “deliverables of artistic associate and similar externally engaged roles, and ensure such roles supplement rather than replace core curatorial functions”. … “This has clearly been outsourcing by stealth,” PSA assistant secretary Troy Wright told the parliamentary hearing into arts funding in December. “It is also clear that the cost of these roles is a major concern. In the course of the past four years, spending on these roles has skyrocketed.” Among details of costs, Morris includes: ‘In its first year (the 2021-22 financial year), four artistic associates cost the museum $142,000. At its peak last financial year, the museum spent $871,226 on six associates … Inclusive of licensing fees, this brings payments to a total of $2.6 million’, and ‘ …The NSW Audit Office has previously been critical of spending on consultants, estimating that government agencies spent $1 billion on consultancies from 2017-18 to 2021-22.’
Among many other comments, Morris includes: ‘In a sector where hundreds of artists compete for small grants, “it is simply not acceptable for large payments to consultants to be kept secret, particularly when the public is being asked to trust that this money delivers cultural value”, inquiry chair and Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said. “Unfortunately, though, this reflects a growing trend by the Minns government to avoid scrutiny of its decisions by preventing citizens and members of parliament from accessing documents they should ordinarily be entitled to receive, and which are in the public interest to be released.” ‘
Meanwhile: ‘Conflict-of-interest documents that were released show chief executive Lisa Havilah declared prior and current professional relationships with Wimberley, Gothe-Snape and two other associates in January 2022 as part of the expression-of-interest process. Before 2025, the museum said such declarations were covered by the institution’s standard code of conduct supplemented by annual disclosures … Havilah said that during the associates’ program, the museum’s curatorial team expanded from 20 to 32 full-time curators, employed in more generalist roles focused on exhibition making and collection development. The union says many of these new roles went to those without professional curatorial academic qualifications. … A union spokesperson said it was glad to see the program end: “The program was a consultancy exercise, and our members were directed to report to the associates, despite them not being employees. The associates appear to have been among the better-paid consultants in the NSW government, and the PSA would much rather see that funding go toward employing people permanently in professional museum roles.” ‘
For many further details,  READ HERE and HERE: L Morris SMH 9 June 2026
PMAlliance notes that these observations are much agreed with by those who are very familiar with the way the collection was formerly central to the programs of the Museum, and the contributions of knowledgeable staff who managed the exhibitions and projects associated with all aspects of it.

9 June, 2026
PHM’s “CONTENTIOUS” $2.6 MILLION ARTISTIC CONSULTANTS’ PROGRAMME AXED
Very active campaigners, Save the Powerhouse Museum, also distributed Linda Morris’ article (above) by email and Facebook, as it reinforced their longstanding criticism of the plans for ‘Powerhouse Parramatta’, and what appears to be the evolving destruction of much of its well-regarded Ultimo site.
They wrote: ‘Previously we reported that the NSW Government was promoting the forthcoming Parramatta “milkcrate by the river” — due to open at the end of 2026 — with celebrity cooks Kylie Kwong and Stephanie Alexander extolling the virtues of its rooftop garden. As we observed at the time, this was further proof, if needed, that Powerhouse CEO Lisa Havilah had no intention of operating the facility as a real museum, let alone as a STEM museum.’ Watch 9 News of 20 February HERE.
They also remind us that: ‘The programme was highly criticised in the NSW Legislative Council’s Portfolio Committee No. 6 (Transport and the Arts)’s final report on their “Structure and funding of the arts, music, night time economy, and transport portfolios” inquiry.’  READ REPORT HERE. 
And they point out that: ‘Above all the report (recommendation 16 page 98) found that “significant curatorial expertise has been lost due to restructuring, attrition and reallocation of roles” and noted “concerns regarding recruitment practices and the appointment of individuals without traditional museum experience to senior or specialist roles, resulting in deskilling and potential risk to the museum’s operational capacity.” It noted further (recommendation 17 page 99) “that the committee considers that public confidence in the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences will depend on clear evidence that strategic decisions, programming choices and staffing structures remain anchored to the institution’s legislative purpose (MAAS Act 1945) collections responsibilities and long-term public value.” Read MAAS ACT HERE.
Save also notes: ‘In her final report’s foreword (page xi), the Committee’s Chair Cate Faehrmann MLC observed that “major organisational restructures (at the Powerhouse Museum) are proceeding without adequate transparency.” Lack of transparency and accountability has been the hallmark of the Minns Government despite its pre-election promise to end the “shroud of secrecy that the (Coalition) NSW Government has sought to apply across the operations of the Powerhouse Museum for the past 12 years.”
But the “shroud of secrecy” is still very much in place since Morris reports that “the museum has refused the Herald’s application under freedom-of-information laws for full disclosure of total payments to (Chef Kylie) Kwong, (Artist Agatha) Gothe-Snape and (Photographer Zan) Wimberley. Further, Morris also reveals that “conflict-of-interest documents that were released show chief executive Lisa Havilah declared prior and current professional relationships with Wimberley, Gothe-Snape and two other associates in January 2022”, an indication of possible nepotism within the public institution. $2 billion of taxpayers money has been wasted demolishing a world class museum and replacing it with 2 “entertainment” centres.
Save the Powerhouse, and many others, have long highlighted malpractice, in the doomed process. Perhaps it might finally come to light?’
READ ALL HERE: Save the Powerhouse 9 June 2026

8 June, 2026
New Jobs at Powerhouse, advertised on PHM LinkedIn site
On the Powerhouse Museum’s LinkedIn site, as well as many news items over the last 12 months, regarding developments in Parramatta and with some reference to the Ultimo site, recent posts advertise many new staff positions crossing a wide range of responsibilities. While many professionally experienced subject curators across the collection have not been replaced for both exhibition and collection development responsibilities operating together, rather than separated as has occurred recently, and with their lost positions not specifically identified here, the advertisements include for: Garden program, Archives, Academy & Residency Operations, Senior Full Stack Engineer, Head of Communications, Program Producer, Festivals & Major Event  – and many more. To see the Listing with details and weblinks go to Posts HERE, with an edited listing HERE: PHM New jobs.2026  See within on June 3, 2026, ‘Powerhouse Parramatta announces a smorgasbord of Australian design’ Powerhouse Parramatta has commissioned more than 50 leading designers from across Australia to shape the spaces and experiences of the new museum, including public, exhibition, restaurant and retail spaces.
And READ HERE:  50 Powerhouse Parra Designers
PMAlliance adds: ‘Despite the generous funding for these positions (alongside much defunding of museums and galleries in regional NSW), the subjects of the (only) five opening exhibitions have not been clearly announced, apart from Task Eternal, the $18m costly Aerospace Exhibition. Do they cross the breadth of the collection? While the Parramatta site may well be attractive to visit, with its range of entertainment, and with a political focus on Western Sydney, is it really to be the state Museum it was in Ultimo, providing outstanding background and engagement with the broad collection across past and present (and opening with 25 exhibitions in 1988)?’

May 2026
Pros and Cons: Forthcoming opening of ‘Powerhouse Parramatta’
During the last week in May 2026, a number of announcements were made regarding the upcoming opening of the Parramatta Powerhouse (Museum) in late 2026.
In well over a decade, protests have been made about closing the existing city site in Ultimo in the Sydney CBD, and its relocation to Parramatta. In the early stages this move was identified as ‘money in the city and votes in the west’.
But even after the new arts minister John Graham agreed to ‘Save’ it in the city, from what previous arts minister Don Harwin proposed as a Lyric Theatre and Fashion Hub, many broken promises have taken place, including reduction of future Ultimo exhibition space by 75%, demolition of its award-winning buildings from the 1988 opening, relocation of the entire collection to the distant Castle Hill storage space, and grave doubts about the proposed program in either site.
Indeed, despite information supplied on-line by the Museum, (for example, see 1 May Media Release HERE and HERE: PHM Media release 1 May  it does appear that both sites will be arts entertainment centres, with continuing lack of commitment to background historical information of ‘applied arts, design and industry’, and their ongoing contemporary relevance. These were the much-appreciated focus of the former Powerhouse Museum’s program from its reopening in 1988 with 25 exhibitions, both ‘permanent changing’ and ‘temporary’, highly professional staff across all fields, and many continuing public engagements. SEE LIST HERE 1988-2018:  Powerhouse Museum exhibitions 1988-2018 – 12 Nov 18
Concerns about the future of both Ultimo and Parramatta museum programs and management have been documented in the recent Government Inquiry: SEE below for Report Tabled, 28 April 2026.

NOW – what is proposed in Parramatta?
Three entries are provided below, and our very experienced colleagues and wide audiences continue to express doubts about the Museum’s continuing relevance in Parramatta, as a major state museum also with a former national and international reputation, because:
–   Despite vast financial costs of development, only five exhibitions will be part of the opening, and represent very little of the broad collection. It announces: ‘Powerhouse Parramatta will open with 5 international exhibitions that reflect the ambition of the museum across the applied arts and sciences, culture, industry and innovation. It has been developed in collaboration with the communities of Western Sydney, and local and international collaborators. The full program will be announced later in 2026.’ SEE HERE: and HERE: Powerhouse Parramatta
–   The focus appears to be very much on a Western Sydney audience, which is the role of a regional museum, and not a state museum. Parramatta should have its local museum as in other council areas and state regions (even though it appears that many have been defunded to enable this development.) This state museum should remain in the Sydney CBD, as with other state cultural institutions.
–   Emphasis very much appears to be on entertainment, rather than drawing on the acknowledged former role of the Museum and the significance of its collection, with its background and continuing relevance to audiences including designers, makers, collectors, historians and educators.
–   As the collection was removed to storage in Castle Hill, and some major transport and industrial items were relocated in regional museum storage, concerns have been expressed about the potential dangers to their safety in transport and storage – and exhibition.
See three entries below:

1: 19 May, 2026
‘Indigenous artists snubbed for $700,000 Powerhouse Parramatta ‘welcome’ sculpture’
Linda Morris recorded in the Sydney Morning Herald, that ‘Indian artist Bharti Kher is creating a monumental, multi-headed bronze sculpture to serve as an official public “welcome” to the new $1 billion Powerhouse Parramatta, as the museum makes its pitch to become a global tourism attraction. Months ahead of the museum’s grand opening, details have been unveiled on Kher’s Tree of Life, one of four major international major artworks or installations destined for the taxpayer-funded museum, which when opened later this year will be Australia’s largest.’ And ‘… Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah defended the decision to extend the commission to an international artist, rather than a local or First Nations practitioner, noting Kher’s status as one of India’s most significant contemporary voices, and the museum’s international reach.’
Of concern to many museum followers across the state of NSW, who have been critical of defunding some regional museums and galleries, Morris also noted that ‘The Kher work will stand in place for three years, its $700,000 cost inclusive of an artist’s fee, construction and installation.’
And, Morris reminded readers: ‘… The museum’s leadership came in for strong criticism from the Public Service Union and other groups during a parliamentary inquiry hearing last December for drifting into the realm of arts, fashion, culture and performance, rather than the applied arts and sciences with focus on engineering and technology. Havilah disputes the museum is straying from its legislative mandate and says it is developing programs that balance science and the applied arts.’   Read HERE, and HERE:  SMH 19 May L Morris

2: 22 May, 2026
‘Why are three heritage planes dangling from a ceiling in Parramatta?’
‘Replica Planes wing in to boost Powerhouse funding’ (in print)
Linda Morris documents in the Sydney Morning Herald, information supplied by the Powerhouse Museum on its website (https://powerhouse.com.au/) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/powerhousemuseum) , about one of the five proposed opening exhibitions for Powerhouse Parramatta: ‘Task Eternal,  exploring space and flight’, and some of the  financial issues underlying it.
She reports: ‘Western Sydney’s first cultural institution has taken delivery of a twin wing aircraft borrowed under a $5 million partnership deal with Qantas that the Powerhouse Museum says brings it closer to hitting its target for private fundraising. The historic Qantas Avro 504K aircraft, a replica of the national carrier’s first plane, has joined two other aircraft from the museum’s collection – an Autogiro – a forerunner of the helicopter – and an ultralight Skycraft Scout Mark 1 designed and made by aviation pioneer Ron Wheeler. All three have been suspended in a stack from the roof of the museum’s largest presentation space, the first objects to enter the massive column-free room.’
Regarding financing, Morris also notes that: ‘The Powerhouse has been set a target by NSW Treasury to raise $75 million towards the more than $1 billion building opening later this year. Of the $5 million investment, Graham’s office said: “This partnership takes the philanthropy total raised [by the Powerhouse] to $72.9 million.” A museum spokesperson later said the sum raised was contributed entirely in cash donations.’
And donors are to gain considerable recognition, for example: ‘… The Flying Kangaroo is the official presenting partner for the $18 million show, has naming rights over a public terrace overlooking the Parramatta River and will contribute to learning programs during the exhibition. In turn the Powerhouse will preserve and digitise more than 6000 pieces from the Qantas Heritage Collection, spanning more than a century of Australian aviation history. The Catalina seaplane has been moved to a volunteer-run museum on the South Coast while the Ultimo building is being rebuilt and will return there, not to Parramatta. The museum has also entered into a partnership with the Lang Walker Family Foundation, which has given $20 million to fund access to education experiences for more than 10,000 high school students every year – including overnight stays at the museum for many of these students. University of Western Sydney has made a contribution worth $10 million.
These agreements phase in funding and program support over 10 years. The University of NSW has received naming rights to St George’s Terrace, a dedicated community and learning space behind the museum’s historic facade.’
Further afield, as well as concerns about the future of other significant items in the aircraft collection, public concerns about the display of these aircraft include a need for specifications of climate and air quality in the display environment in Parramatta ‘egg-crate’ because of the long term vulnerability of the fabric in the three possibly ‘artistic-suspended’ aircraft, and provision of the context of their display – not a feature of current CEO’s interests.
 READ HERE and HERE:  SMH 22 May 2026 L Morris

3: 24 May, 2026
‘Powerhouse Parramatta Opening 2026: What To Expect From Sydney’s Biggest Museum’
‘Ellaslist is a leading Australian digital platform connecting families with the best activities, events, and experiences for children aged 0–15.’
While this organisation clearly lists interesting and engaging opportunities for children, questions still remain for continuation of the acknowledged role of the former Museum and the significance of its collection, with its background and continuing relevance to audiences including designers, makers, collectors, historians and educators.
Ellaslist, an on-line listing group for young people, wrote about the upcoming opportunity in Parramatta, saying: ‘It’s the opening we’ve all been talking about for years! Sydney’s west is about to get a serious cultural glow-up with the highly anticipated opening of Powerhouse Museum Parramatta. The long-awaited Powerhouse Parramatta is nearly here, and if you thought this was just another museum, think again. This is a full-blown cultural playground set to transform Parramatta’s riverfront and Sydney’s cultural and educational offering. Opening Date (And Why Everyone’s Talking About It)…’
In noting ‘What To Expect From the New Powerhouse Parramatta’, it says: First, let’s get to what NOT to expect — your run-of-the-mill, wander-through-and-whisper type of museum! Spread across a massive 18,000 square metres, Powerhouse Museum Parramatta is designed to be immersive, interactive and seriously future-focused. Part of the new digs will include:
–     Next-gen exhibition spaces built for large-scale, hands-on experiences.
–     12,000 square metres of public space, including a riverside green square.
–     A layout that blends culture, science, design and community into one seamless hub.
While the five opening exhibitions are not yet listed, it then continues to give details about some opportunities for possible involvement for children:
Task Eternal: World’s Most Ambitious Aerospace Exhibition
Set inside a massive, soaring gallery space, Task Eternal will invite curious kids (and grown-ups) to explore how we got to space… and where we might go next.
A Rooftop Worth The Hype:
Head upstairs, and things get even more interesting. The rooftop terrace is set to deliver near-360-degree views across Parramatta, with a lush garden filled with Indigenous plants, a greenhouse, water features and spaces for workshops and event
The Lang Walker Family Academy:
If you’ve got curious kids (or just love a hands-on experience), this is where things get really interesting. The Lang Walker Family Academy will be a major draw in Powerhouse Parramatta, offering interactive programs on food, sustainability, and science.
The Holdmark Gallery:
Art lovers, this one’s for you. The Holdmark Gallery will be one of the major exhibition spaces inside the new Powerhouse Parramatta, designed to host large-scale, ever-changing showcases spanning art, design, science and culture. There’ll be bold, immersive exhibitions rather than anything too traditional — this is a space built for big ideas and visually striking experiences that pull you in (and keep the kids engaged, too).
A Space For Curious Minds (Big and Small)
Powerhouse Parramatta is going all in on hands-on learning, with a purpose-built play and learning space dedicated to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths). Designed for kids, it’s all about interactive discovery with tinkering, experimenting and getting stuck into ideas in a way that actually feels fun. Beyond that, the museum will also house versatile event and function spaces, meaning everything from workshops and talks to large-scale events and community gatherings will be part of the mix.
Read HERE, and HERE: PHM Parra Ellaslist May 2026

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2022, 2024: BACKGROUND APPROVALS FOR PARRAMATTA POWERHOUSE BUILDING DEVELOPMENT, and OPENING IN 2026
Leading to the recent announcements in May 2026 (above) about the opening of the Powerhouse {Parramatta (Museum) later in 2026 , these reports have contributed to the decisions made about the structure of the new Powerhouse Parramatta buildings, their relationship to adjacent historic buildings, and potential programs to be further identified.
2 October, 2024
‘Current Status:  Determination of the State Significant Development assessment on the proposal for Parramatta’
On 2 October, 2024, following further research and modifications to the 2022 report (below), a ‘Current Status:  Determination of the State Significant Development assessment on the proposal for Parramatta’, was published on the Planning Portal of the NSW governments major projects:  See HERE:  OR  HERE: (to come)
For headings for the document to read on-line, see below:

State Significant Development: Determination
Powerhouse Parramatta; City of Parramatta
Current Status: Determination
Interact with the stages for their names

1. SEARs
2. Prepare EIS
3. Exhibition
4. Collate Submissions
5. Assessment
6. Recommendation
7. Determination

• Assessment
• Post Approval
• Compliance
• Submissions

Site preparation works including demolition of all structures and tree removal, construction, operation and use of the Powerhouse Parramatta, public domain works and use, vehicular access, infrastructure works and signage zones
Consolidated Consent
Consolidated Conditions Holder blank View

Modifications (and Determinations)
Powerhouse Parramatta MOD 1 – St George’s Terrace and Eastern Roof Area
Powerhouse Parramatta MOD 2 – Height and construction hours
Powerhouse Parramatta MOD 3 – Retail fit-out

Archive: (many details supplied)
Early Consultation (1)
Request for SEARs (4)
SEARs (1)
EIS (37)
Response to Submissions (24)
Agency Advice (10)
Additional Information (22)
Determination (8)
 Related Projects:
Project Details (can open on-line for viewing)
Application Number
SSD-10416-Mod-1
SSD-10416-Mod-2
SSD-10416-Mod-3
Last Modified On 02/10/2024
View project on map
SSD-10416-Mod-3

August, 2022
‘Powerhouse Parramatta Modification 1
St George’s Terrace and Eastern Roof Area State Significant Development Modification Assessment ‘(SSD-10416 MOD 1)
Published by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment dpie.nsw.gov.au  this report documents the ‘assessment of an application to modify the State significant development (SSD) consent for the Parramatta Powerhouse development’.
READ IN FULL HERE: or HERE:  SSD-10416 MOD 1 Assessment Report
Summary of headings below:
1 Introduction
This report provides the NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s (the Department’s) assessment of an application to modify the State significant development (SSD) consent for the Parramatta Powerhouse development (SSD-10416).  The modification application seeks approval for amendments to the roof of the eastern building, partial demolition, fit-out and use of St George’s Terrace and associated changes to conditions of consent.  The application was lodged on 7 February 2022 by Ethos Urban, on behalf of Infrastructure NSW (the Applicant), pursuant to section 4.55(1A) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act).
1.1 Background
The site is in the northern end of the Parramatta Central Business District (CBD) at 30B, 34, 36-38, 40, 42 and 44-54 Phillip Street in the Parramatta local government area (LGA). It is approximately 20 kilometres (km) west of the Sydney CBD and Parramatta Station is located 520 metres (m) to the south (Figure 1).  The site is bound by Parramatta River to the north, Wilde Avenue to the east and Phillip Street to the south. Mixed use development at 330-338 Church Street and the Park Royal Hotel adjoins the sites western boundary (Figure 2).  The site is currently under construction and all existing structures have been demolished or removed from the site, with the exception of St Georges Terrace on the corner of Phillip Street and Wilde Avenue. Willow Grove has been dismantled and is currently in storage and will be reconstructed in a new location within the local Parramatta area in accordance with the development consent.

Contents
1 Introduction ·······································································································1
1.1 Background …………………………………………………………………………………………1
1.2 Approval history……………………………………………………………………………………2
1.3 Conditions relevant to this application ……………………………………………….2
2 Proposed modification ····················································································3
3 Statutory context ·······························································································7
3.1 Scope of modifications …………………………………………………………………………7
3.2 Consent authority …………………………………………………………………………………7
3.3 Mandatory matters for consideration ……………………………………………………7
4 Engagement ········································································································· 8
4.1 Department’s engagement …………………………………………………………………….8
4.2 Agency advice ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
4.3 Public submissions ……………………………………………………………………………….. 9
4.4 Response to submissions ………………………………………………………………………9
5 Assessment ········································································································   10
5.1 Design Excellence ………………………………………………………………………………… 10
5.2 Heritage …………………………………………………………………………………………………14
5.3 Other issues ………………………………………………………………………………………… ..17
6 Evaluation ···········································································································- 20
7 Recommendation ································································································21
8 Determination ······································································································ 22
Appendices ···············································································································  23
Appendix A – List of referenced documents ………………………………………………….23
Appendix B – Statutory considerations …………………………………………………………23
Appendix C – Notice of modification ……………………………………………………………..27
Appendix D – Notice of Decision …………………………………………………………………….27

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29 April, 2026
Report tabled – Structure and funding of the arts, music, night-time economy, and transport portfolios
Following this Inquiry in late 2025 (see our website News Chronology 2025, October-December), Ms Cate Faehrmann MLC, Committee Chair of Portfolio Committee 6,  announced that the final report and its recommendations had been tabled and was now available to view on-line.
READ HERE: Email Fehrman
Faehrmann wrote: ‘I announce the release of the report of Portfolio Committee No. 6 – Transport and the Arts, entitled ‘Structure and funding of the arts, music, night-time economy, and transport portfolios’. The report was tabled with the Clerk of the Parliaments on 29 April 2026.
The report is available on our website along with submissions, transcripts of evidence and other inquiry documents. The report and its recommendations are now with the government for consideration. The government is required to respond to the recommendations within three months. You will be advised of the government response when it has been received. On behalf of the committee, I take this opportunity to thank you for your contribution to the inquiry. The committee has been greatly assisted by these contributions and we appreciate the time and effort taken by all those who have helped us with this important inquiry.’
Many of the submissions made  were from members of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance, and related organisations including Save the Powerhouse Museum, and have been critical of the future of the Powerhouse Museum in both Parramatta and Ultimo. The list also includes a further inclusion of submissions that had been invited to respond to some questions.
To follow up, SEE:
1. REPORT: On their  website, go to Report No 27:
Or HERE:Report 27 – PC 6 – Transport and the Arts – FINAL (5)
For reference to the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, go to pp 85-100
2: SUBMISSIONS:  On website HERE , or read HERE Submissions.to Inquiry.2026
For reference to the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, see 16, 24, 26,27, 36, 40, 46 ,  69, 76, 78, 79 … notably 16 (Save the PM)and 46 (PHM Alliance)
1: REPORT: 
With reference to the Powerhouse Museum (pages 85-100) read extracts from the Report summary and conclusions HERE: Portfolio Committee Report PHM details 
These include (in short details):
1.6: Several stakeholders, such as the Powerhouse Museum Alliance and the Save the Powerhouse campaign, expressed ongoing critical concerns about the Museum’s revitalisation projects, including:
–  the loss of significant heritage and diminished cultural value,
– a lack of sound governance and consultation, resulting in limited transparency and community engagement,
– the scale and cost of the projects, suggesting a lack of value for money, and
– the impact on museum collections, staff and institutional capability
[After many comments on details relating to these topics, they wrote further:…]
Recommendation 16:
That the NSW Government:
– commit to the full implementation of any findings and recommendations arising from the NSW Auditor-General’s audit of the effectiveness of the planning, design and construction for the Powerhouse Museum Parramatta and Ultimo projects
– publish updated public business case summaries for the Parramatta and Ultimo projects, including current total estimated cost, major scope changes, project timelines and key assumptitions conduct a forensic audit of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ operational expenditure to ensure that public funds are spent in accordance with the museum’s legislative obligations and strategic priorities.
Recommendation 17:
That the NSW Government require the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to:
– prioritise restoring and retaining specialised in-house curatorial expertise and positions consistent with the museum’s legislative purpose
– publish the cost, purpose, duration, selection process and deliverables of artistic associate and similar externally engaged roles, and
– ensure such roles supplement rather than replace core curatorial functions.
They conclude:
– The committee considers that while the museum is undergoing a period of transition and renewal, there remains a need for clear alignment with its legislative purpose, strengthened governance and transparency, and a sustained focus on maintaining curatorial expertise and institutional knowledge. These elements will be critical to ensuring the long-term integrity, relevance and public value of the institution.
– Overall, the committee considers that public confidence in the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences will depend on clear evidence that strategic decisions, programming choices and staffing structures remain anchored to the institution’s legislative purpose, collections responsibilities and long-term public value.’
They recommend: See Submission 46 and 46a, Powerhouse Museum Alliance; Submission 16, Save the Powerhouse campaign; Submission 24, Ms Grace Cochrane AM; Submission 27, Mr Tom Lockley; Submission 36, Mr Garry Horvai; Submission 40, 40a and 40b, Dr Lindsay Sharp; Submission 69, Ms Elizabeth Elenius; Submission 76, Mr Andrew Grant; Submission 78, Ms Jennifer Sanders.

2: PMA SUBMISSIONS  PUBLISHED ON INQUIRY WEB PAGE:
14 November, 2025
Submission No 46:
INQUIRY INTO STRUCTURE AND FUNDING OF THE ARTS, MUSIC, NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY, AND TRANSPORT PORTFOLIOS
On behalf of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance, Jennifer Sanders, Kylie Winkworth, Dr Lindsay Sharp and Andrew Grant made this submission to the Inquiry: On website HERE , or read HERE Submissions.to Inquiry.2026
They addressed in particular, the following Terms of Reference:
(d) The operational, staffing and program impacts of budget and restructuring decisions on…(vi) the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum)…
(e) The retention of professional expertise and institutional knowledge, including the adequacy of processes for knowledge transfer, mentoring and succession planning (
f) The extent to which restructures and workforce reductions have affected technical capacity, project delivery and service quality.
After eight pages of evidence, they concluded:
Summary statement
‘The impact of the loss of the Powerhouse Museum’s specialist expertise has been felt across the Museum: in its development, care and conservation of the collection, in the collection’s documentation and accessibility and, in the Museum’s lack of meaningful engagement with its core and diverse audiences. Instead, the current CEO and senior management have prioritised the employment of artists and ‘creatives’ who are invited to use the collection and the Museum’s resources and facilities for often arcane purposes that are not related to the Museum’s education mission and core audiences but are for the ‘creative enjoyment’ of an extremely limited audience. This current CEO-driven fundamental change to the Museum’s purpose, structure and programs has resulted in ‘exhibitions’ which are indulgent forays into the thoughts and reveries of contemporary artists, with little or no relevance to the Powerhouse Museum’s longstanding audiences and, at odds with the Museum’s Act and, importantly, its education remit. The current CEO has apparently retreated into her comfort zone of contemporary art and artists. The Powerhouse Museum Alliance calls on The Minister, The Hon John Graham, to replace the Powerhouse Museum’s Board of Trustees and senior management with people who have experience and knowledge of museums and their important role in society, as described in the International Council of Museum’s statement of purpose quoted at the beginning of this submission. Thank you for the opportunity to present this submission. Jennifer Sanders, Kylie Winkworth, Dr Lindsay Sharp and Andrew Grant on behalf of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance 14 November 2025’  READ ALL HERE: 0046 Mr Andrew Grant, Jennifer Sanders, Kylie Winkworth and Dr Lindsay Sharp

12 December, 2025
Supplementary submission: 46A
RESPONSE TO QUESTION FROM HON ANTHONY D’ADAM, MLC ‘WHAT WOULD THE PMA RECOMMEND BE DONE WITH PP AND PU?’
Following the original Submission No 46, a supplementary submission was made in response to a question from the committee: ‘WHAT WOULD THE PMA RECOMMEND BE DONE WITH Powerhouse Parramatta and Powerhouse Ultimo?’
After an extensive response, provided by Andrew Grant, Jennifer Sanders, Kylie Winkworth and Dr Lindsay Sharp on behalf of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance, they concluded:
Conclusion:
The PMA has lost confidence and trust in the management of MAAS. It is clear that management’s intention is to deindustrialise the Powerhouse Museum, bury the collections at Castle Hill and turn the museum into a contemporary arts organisation. The last five years has seen a pronounced decay in the operations and performance of the museum, reflected across all the key performance indicators. The management has shown no interest in the museum’s state-wide remit for applied arts and applied sciences, technology, history, or heritage collections. Priority has shifted to supporting artists and ‘creative industries’ under the misapprehension that MAAS is a ‘contemporary museum’. This is nonsense.
The Powerhouse Museum is Australia’s only museum of applied arts and applied sciences. It manages a heritage collection that reflects its history and education context in Ultimo since 1893 – deeply connected to technical education, trade and industry. [iv] The collection and the PHM cannot be separated from the museum’s history and home in Ultimo. The destructive heritage impacts of the wishful thinking that the museum can be moved and remade as a creative industries body are all too glaring in the destructive, deceptive and confusing Powerhouse Ultimo scheme. The concept of a contemporary museum patronising multi art form creative industries may be appropriate for the arts and performance facility planned for the Parramatta Powerhouse. But this has nothing to do with the legislated remit of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Creative industries are not applied arts.
It is time that Western Sydney has its own cultural institution based at Parramatta with a remit to work across Western Sydney supporting the creative talent and cultural life of the region’s diverse communities, with the capacity to draw on all the state’s collections for exhibition at Parramatta or other venues. The Parramatta Powerhouse development must be separated from MAAS and established with a unique name, identity, funding and governance arrangements.
It is untenable for the management to be operating outside the objects of the MAAS Act as is clearly the case with the Powerhouse Ultimo EIS. The SSD EIS is inconsistent with the statutory obligations of the MAAS Act and is therefore invalid. READ ALL HERE: 0046a Grant, Sanders, Winkworth and Dr Sharp

 4 May, 2026
FINAL REPORT RELEASED ON ARTS, MUSIC, NIGHT ECONOMY AND TRANSPORT
Save the Powerhouse Museum: With reference to the Final Report for the Inquiry by the NSW Legislative Council’s Portfolio Committee No. 6 (Transport and the Arts) (See our reference to 29 April above), into ‘Structure and funding of the arts, music, night time economy, and transport portfolios’, Save the Powerhouse Museum circulated (via email and Facebook) these comments on extracts from the Foreword, Report and Recommendations in the Report, with particular reference to the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo and Parramatta. They include:
‘In her foreword (page xi), the Committee’s Chair Cate Faehrmann MLC observes “that major organisational restructures are proceeding WITHOUT ADEQUATE TRANSPARENCY, and increasing pressure is being placed on both the workforce and the sectors they are intended to support.”
However, transparency was a key promise of the Minns Government when it declared, two days before the 2023 election (23 March http://tiny.cc/59r2101), that “the NSW Parliament Select Committee on the management of the Powerhouse Museum has revealed the shroud of secrecy that the (Coalition) NSW Government has sought to apply across the operations of The Powerhouse Museum for the past 12 years… A NSW Labor government will release key details of the plans for the Ultimo and Parramatta sites that until now have been kept secret.”’
‘The final report (recommendation 16 page 98) found that –
–       “Decisions related to the (MAAS) projects lacked adequate oversight, with updated business cases not publicly released.”
–       “Significant curatorial expertise has been lost due to restructuring, attrition and reallocation of roles.”
And noted “(stakeholder) concerns regarding recruitment practices and the APPOINTMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT TRADITIONAL MUSEUM EXPERIENCE to senior or specialist roles, resulting in deskilling and potential risk to the museum’s operational capacity.”
It noted further (recommendation 17 page 99) “that the committee considers that public confidence in the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences will depend on clear evidence that strategic decisions, programming choices and staffing structures remain anchored to the institution’s legislative purpose (MAAS Act 1945 https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1945-031), collections responsibilities and long-term public value.”’
‘Unfortunately the Committee’s findings, which reflect the problems Save the Powerhouse, the Powerhouse Museum Alliance and many others have highlighted for the past 11 years, comes too late to change the situation.
The “Revitalisation” of the MAAS public institution –
–       Has cost the NSW taxpayer $2 Billion, resulting in drastic funding reductions of many other cultural institutions in NSW.
–       The Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo’s Wran extensions have been bulldozed to the ground and –
–       The Milkcrate in Parramatta, which is not a museum but an event and entertainment centre, is complete and is set to open at the end of 2026 (September according to Premier Minns?)
…Finally, Save is disappointed that the significant loss of heritage in Ultimo is ignored by the report. Probably because it was not considered as relevant to the Inquiry’s terms of reference.
Meanwhile the structural completion of the Milkcrate in Parramatta, is hailed by the media (read ABC News of 1 May https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-01/parramatta-powerhouse-construction-ends-as-opening-date-nears/106629094) in a way somewhat similar to the recent Fish Market opening.
We learn that –
–       “Arts Minister John Graham said entry to the museum would be free with some exhibits like Task Eternal requiring paid entry.” Does he means that visitors will freely enter the building to patronise its bars, restaurants and shops but will be charged to view the exhibitions?
–       “Seven expansive zones are part of the museum, including an 18-metre high space over 2,200 square metres, which will feature Task Eternal, the largest exhibition about space exploration in Australia” and that “CEO Lisa Havilah’s team will now start installing five exhibitions for the museum’s opening.”
Less than 6 months before the opening, no exhibition detail or theme is provided, except for “Task eternal”.
Only five exhibitions?
–       This poorly compares with the 25 exhibitions “arranged into five thematic groups, including Science, Technology and People, and Australian design” for the opening of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo in 1988. Their themes were made public years before the Museum’s grand opening.
–       Seven “expansive zones”, so what is the purpose of the two other “zones”?
Finally we are told that the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo “is expected to reopen to the public in 2027”…which appears impossible!’
READ ALL HERE:  Save the PHM. FINAL REPORT RELEASED ON ARTS

1 May, 2026
Completion of Parramatta Powerhouse Building construction
A number of announcements were made on 1 May, regarding the completion of the construction of the buildings for ‘Powerhouse Parramatta’ museum.
Many locals including investors and audiences supported it, but a wide criticism continued about the inappropriate removal of a key state museum from the state city centre to an area that needed a museum for its own history and heritage.
Apart from pride expressed by the Premier and Arts Minister, criticism was also made by experienced museum professionals who questioned, based on recent experiences, the future purpose and program of the institution as a significant Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
These concerns were also noted in the recent report of the government Portfolio Committee 6, (See web entry below, 29 April, 4 May).
For examples of the announcement, see:
1: Powerhouse News, 1 May:
Making a museum that changes with the world Making a museum that changes with the world. Powerhouse Parramatta reached its final major construction milestone, with main building works now complete. More than 4,000 people contributed over 2.7 million hours, most from Western Sydney. Opening late 2026, Powerhouse Parramatta is a museum redefined for this century, created for and with one of Australia’s most diverse and fastest-growing communities. The monumental exoskeleton establishes Powerhouse Parramatta as an architectural landmark. Made from over 1,300 individual pieces of steel, the superstructure creates epic and flexible spaces to hold stories for a new generation. A museum’s role in the community is to be a vitalising force.
READ HERE: for extended information: PHM Media release 1 May 
And HERE: Powerhouse News May 1

2: ABC Net News, 1 May:
‘Construction ends on $915 million Parramatta Powerhouse museum set to open this year’
Declan Bowring wrote for the ABC announcement:
In short: Four years after it started, construction of the Powerhouse Parramatta, hailed as a major cultural institution for Western Sydney, is finished. Powerhouse CEO Lisa Havilah says the museum team will now focus on installing five exhibitions for the opening.
What’s next? Premier Chris Minns has flagged the museum will open in September, though Ms Havilah has not confirmed the date. Construction of the $915 million Powerhouse Parramatta has been completed ahead of the new Western Sydney institution’s opening as soon as September.
The NSW government has announced the major milestone four years after work began, with the site handed over by builder LendLease to the Powerhouse at 5pm yesterday.
Seven expansive zones are part of the museum, including an 18-metre high space over 2,200 square metres, which will feature Task Eternal, the largest exhibition about space exploration in Australia.
Powerhouse CEO Lisa Havilah said her team would now start installing five exhibitions for the museum’s opening.
“This is Western Sydney’s first major cultural institution,” Ms Havilah told 702 ABC Sydney. “This investment is about the diverse, fast-growing and young communities of Western Sydney having direct access to world-class arts and culture.”
Ms Havilah said the museum also includes a public rooftop garden for horticulture demonstrations and a 60-bed accommodation area for 10,000 visiting students a year to complete immersive learning programs.
Five exhibitions will fill the spaces inside the Powerhouse.
She told 702 ABC Sydney a pedestrian-friendly civic link that passes through the museum would connect the river to Parramatta Square as the nearby Sydney Metro project finishes, which is due to be completed in 2032. Ms Havilah would not give an opening date for the museum, except to say it would be before the end of this year.
“When it opens later this year it will truly change our city,” Parramatta NSW MP Donna Davis said.
“The ambition of this museum matches the ambition of the people of Parramatta and I can’t wait to see it.” Premier Chris Minns inadvertently revealed September as a prospective opening date at a press conference in May last year. “It’s not far away, probably September of next year it’ll open its doors, and it’ll be an exciting day for our beautiful city,” Mr Minns said at the time.
The building features an exoskeleton design that means inside exhibition spaces can be free of columns. (ABC News: Digby Werthmuller)
“Well, it may well be that I wasn’t supposed to say that, but that’s what we’re aiming for, and so it’s not too far away. We really want to open as soon as possible.”
Arts Minister John Graham said entry to the museum would be free with some exhibits like Task Eternal requiring paid entry. “That’s a really important policy of the government, we want our cultural institutions to be free,” Mr Graham said.
READ HERE, or HERE: ABC Net News Parramatta 1 May

3. COMMENTS FROM EXPERIENCED MUSEUM ADVOCATES:
A:  Kylie Winkworth, Powerhouse Museum Alliance member, and former Trustee, wrote about the ABC News site, 1 May
‘This project is built on grotesque public deception, starting with the fact that this is not a museum, let alone anything to do with the real Powerhouse Museum. The government appropriated the assets and funding of an historic state museum, built by generations of donors and taxpayers, to turn it into an electoral bribe for Western Sydney. It’s not a museum, it’s a multi-purpose entertainment facility where every space is designed for performance and venue hire. The development has no concept or compelling rationale. It was built on the rubble of the historic villa Willow Grove, built by Annie Gallagher in 1891, and the last riverside garden villa in Parramatta. Community objections, a Green Ban, and options to retain Willow Grove were all ignored.
Powerhouse Parramatta was developed in secret without consultation. It is a smaller, less accessible and less functional facility than the real Powerhouse Museum the government has now demolished. Powerhouse Parramatta was not wanted by the community who had no say in what the project is about or where it is located.  There were 1,644 submissions from the community, which 1,598 were objections, and only 26 supported the project.
No government anywhere in the world has ever demolished a purpose-designed, centrally located state museum to move it to a less accessible location. Let alone spending the best part of $1.5 billion on building a ‘museum’ in a high-risk flood zone, on a site that floods so frequently they had to build a vast undercroft for the conveyance of high velocity flood waters to flow underneath the building. And after all this, they can’t even say the development is safe for visitors or collections. Indeed, the environmental specifications for the building have been so degraded that just one space of 1,232sqm may meet international lending standards, (P5 level 2 west. The design brief specified 5,094sqm of AA climate controlled space). It is more proof the project is not intended to be a museum.’
B: Save the Powerhouse campaign:
Powerhouse closed its Ultimo premises in February 2024 for major renovations and is expected to reopen to the public in 2027.
Save the Powerhouse wrote: ‘Meanwhile the structural completion of the Milkcrate in Parramatta, is hailed by the media (read ABC News of 1 May ) in a way somewhat similar to the recent Fish Market opening.
We learn that –
–       “Arts Minister John Graham said entry to the museum would be free with some exhibits like Task Eternal requiring paid entry.” Does he means that visitors will freely enter the building to patronise its bars, restaurants and shops but will be charged to view the exhibitions
–       “Seven expansive zones are part of the museum, including an 18-metre high space over 2,200 square metres, which will feature Task Eternal, the largest exhibition about space exploration in Australia” and that “CEO Lisa Havilah’s team will now start installing five exhibitions for the museum’s opening.”
Less than 6 months before the opening, no exhibition detail or theme is provided, except for “Task eternal”. Only five exhibitions?
–       This poorly compares with the 25 exhibitions “arranged into five thematic groups, including Science, Technology and People, and Australian design” for the opening of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo in 1988. Their themes were made public years before the Museum’s grand opening.
–       Seven “expansive zones”, so what is the purpose of the two other “zones”?
Finally we are told that the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo “is expected to reopen to the public in 2027”…which appears impossible!’
READ ALL HERE: Save the PHM. FINAL REPORT RELEASED ON ARTS
C: Parramatta Advertiser, 1 May
Suzette Meade, longtime advocate for maintaining Parramatta’s own history and heritage, provided many comments attached to the Parramatta Advertiser’s report. They include:
Suzette Meade:  $1.4 billion of cultural funding into an entertainment/ restaurant space with $400,000 of flood mitigation reports. Imagine for all of that we could have had funding towards councils upgraded Riverside theatre, restore Roxy, maybe also an art gallery and a Museum of NSW with adaptive reuse of the 26ha National heritage listed female factory (state owned land with light rail beside it.) AND still had a river foreshore park as per the civic walk design with WillowGrove and St George Terraces.
Judith Coombes: I think people are finding it hard to get excited about this because it seems to have no resemblance to the Powerhouse Museum everyone knew and loved. These opening exhibition ideas look really inaccessible and nothing to do with the incredible Powerhouse science, technology, social history and decorative arts collections.
Steve Starr Creatives: Yeah the whole shambles is a black hole for money that has impacted museums & galleries funding across the state’s urban & regional communities for over a decade. Still no business case has been submitted on why it was a good idea in the first place. Powerhouse Ultimo was just fine.
Di Skye: Based on what we’ve heard, we all know it is a faux-museum. It is actually a function space for hire which cosplays as a museum. Parramatta deserves its own truly authentic and dedicated museum celebrating its important history in Australia. Instead, we get this convention centre with apartments that has a small historical side hustle.
Fiona Smith: My heart is with the old DJs building as well as the other historic buildings that were demolished for this. Also, the Powerhouse was fine where it was. Did not need to move to Parramatta. A colossal waste of money. Another blight on the Parramatta landscape to add to the many added in more recent times. It won’t be long before they justify pulling down Old Government House ….
READ ALL HERE: Parramatta Advertiser Comments 1 May

 18 April, 2026
In a wide mailout, Save the Powerhouse Museum campaign, savethepowerhouse@gmail.com reported: ‘The Federal Government’s intention to “divest” the Victoria Barracks military base in Paddington as part of its “2023 Defence Estate Audit” is meeting with growing opposition.
Read City Hub of 10 April https://cityhub.com.au/growing-opposition-meets-victoria-barracks-vision/. “This decision to sell Victoria Barracks simply does not stack up” Labor MLA Marjorie O’Neill told the City Hub, “Victoria Barracks is not surplus land. It is the birthplace of the
[…]  Cr Maxwell’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaaHSo-HQZo “reimagines” the barracks as a “multipurpose civic space, and are part of a broader call for a publicly-led master planning of the site” (read real estate redevelopment).
NSW Labor seems to be at odds with heritage conservation. […] Read City Hub of 7 April https://cityhub.com.au/victoria-barracks-public-space/.
This follows –
–       The total destruction of the Powerhouse Museum’s Wran Heritage which the NSW Labor Government added to its State Heritage Register less than 2 years ago (https://gazette.nsw.gov.au/gazette/2024/7/2024-7_268-gazette.pdf – 12 July 2024) for the “historic, social and associative significance of adaptive reuse of the 1899 Ultimo Power House as the Powerhouse Museum in 1988, INCLUDING THE WRAN AND HARWOOD BUILDINGS.”
–       The apparently deliberate undermining of the Parramatta Female Factory complex’s chances of a UNESCO World Heritage listing due to surrounding high-rise development proposals.. In most countries heritage is treated as a source of national pride—carefully preserved for its cultural, architectural and historical value, and recognised as a major driver of tourism..
In NSW heritage is only perceived as an obstacle to real estate “opportunities.”
If, like many others, you oppose the proposed divestment of Victoria Barracks, you can sign one of the petitions currently available online.
Links to 3 of them are available in the City Hub of 28 March 
READ ALL HERE:  Save the P – NSW LABOR DOES NOT LIKE HERITAGE CONSERVATION

 31 March, 1 April, 2026
‘Powerhouse fires up western Sydney philanthropists’
and ‘The reason these Rich Listers are funding a $1.4b museum’
Michael Bailey, Arts and Culture editor for the Financial Review, wrote that:
‘Powerhouse Parramatta has been controversial since its announcement 12 years ago, but not to the new wave of western Sydney philanthropists who, it can be revealed, have so far donated $68 million of its $915 million price tag.“ ’
He continues: “This is about education for the children of western Sydney and beyond, and showing the world that Parramatta is not a second city. It’s a global city in its own right,” said Sarkis Nassif, founder and chief executive of Holdmark Property Group. Holdmark gave $10 million for the naming rights to one of Powerhouse Parramatta’s five galleries, which will present a biennial exhibition around innovation in architecture, engineering and design. Nassif was on Tuesday among a group of Financial Review Rich Listers and entrepreneurs with roots – like his – in western Sydney, inspecting the 32,000-square metre project, which is 95 per cent complete ahead of its public opening later this year. ‘ In an associated photograph, many of the philanthropists are identified as: ‘Skylife CEO Luke Schafer; Neilson Foundation director Beau Neilson; UNSW dean of arts, design & architecture Claire Annesley; Holdmark Property founder and CEO Sarkis Nassif; Walker Family Foundation director Sue Walker; Walker Corporation assistant development manager Hugo Walker; Walker Family Foundation executive director Georgia Vesperman; Western Sydney University vice chancellor George Williams; ING Bank Australia CEO Melanie Evans; and Sir William Tyree Foundation chairwoman Robyn Fennell. Dominic Lorrimer.’
…’ Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah revealed she had now secured more than 90 per cent of a $75 million private fundraising target assigned to her in 2021 by the NSW government, helping defray total costs estimated at $1.4 billion once the contentious knockdown and rebuild of its original home in inner-city Ultimo is included. …“What we’ve got here is a hyper-platform that for the next 100 years can change and reflect one of the most dynamic regions in the country,” Havilah said.
Powerhouse Parramatta, the largest cultural investment by the NSW government since the Sydney Opera House, is frequently blamed for cuts elsewhere, such as October’s loss of 44 jobs loss from the Art Gallery of NSW, and the closure last week of Darlinghurst’s Australian Design Centre after 62 years, following its failed application for recurrent funding.’ …
‘Former Powerhouse [Trustee] Kylie Winkworth – who criticises Powerhouse Parramatta as being more performing arts space and function centre than museum – said the government had been “raiding every hollow log” to pay for the project, whose total cost, including the relaunch of the Ultimo site, she estimates at closer to $2 billion.’…
Bailey continued with more details of donations by the other listed philanthropists:
Read more HERE, or HERE  Powerhouse Parramatta fires up western Sydney philanthropists, who donated $68 million of the $915 million cost .

March 2026
‘Powerhouse Museum: Seeking documentary evidence’
For some time, under the Government Information Public Access (GIPA) Act 2009, experienced and active former volunteer Tom Lockley, has followed up considerable earlier research and requests from government, for ‘Seeking documentary evidence’ about the processes carried out, and decisions made, regarding the significant changes to the Powerhouse Museum.
On March 16, 2026, he followed up by writing to The Hon. Scott Farlow, MLC, in NSW Parliament, ‘seeking his help’, and attaching a GIPA determination that ‘indicates that the Premiers Department does not hold any information on this matter.’ (A response from Farlow is expected soon, and will be added to this web page.)
See this recent 16 March correspondence below, and with earlier requests and responses  HERE:  Tom Lockley seeks Documentation of Powerhouse Museum development

‘Dear Mr Farlow,
I am seeking your help in a matter in which you are uniquely able to assist, namely the processes by which decisions have been made over the past twelve years regarding the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. I am seeking documentary evidence that the New South Wales government, over the period from mid-2014 to date, has followed appropriate procedures by properly examining alternatives in the development of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences,
The attached GIPA determination indicates that the Premiers Department does not hold any information on this matter. I have also repeatedly asked MAAS, Infrastructure New South Wales and related organisations and relevant government departments if they can help, with no response. It seems impossible that many major decisions have been made without appropriate written records, and this is a matter that is being pursued separately, but it is clear that at least on two occasions there was documentation.
READ HERE: A8499080 – GIPA Decision – PD letter to Mr Lockley – 20260309 (1)
You referred to both of these in the legislative Council debate of Wednesday, 7 August 2019,
1. The initial analysis.
You explained in 2014 the then director of MCA conducted an analysis of the need for a cultural institution in western Sydney and the suitability of the Powerhouse Museum to move, rather than creating a new cultural institution or transferring any other cultural institution. This analysis demonstrated ”the suitability of the Powerhouse Museum to move, rather than creating a new cultural institution or transferring any other cultural institution”.
2. The six independent reviews.
You stated that since February 2016 Infrastructure NSW undertook six independent reviews of the New Museum in Western Sydney Project, conducted by more than 30 independent reviewers, including specialists in design, planning and economics’.
These are the only recorded documents which may indicate that proper investigation was made into alternatives, as required by the appropriate Treasury documents.
Yet they cannot be found.
Can you assist in this search? You are the only person that we can find that has had contact with these documents.
I look forward to receiving information about them. Many thanks,
Tom Lockley
(The only information we have on these independent reviews is a month date and the titles of the reviews, viz:
1. December 2016: MAAS review report
2. February 2017: MAAS New Museum in Parramatta review report
3. January 2018: New Museum in Parramatta report
4. March 2018: New Museum in Western Sydney report
5. April 2018: MAAS Ultimo report
6. November 2018: New Museum in Parramatta report
We cannot find any trace of them in any government records, including the 8.9 gigabytes of documents released under SO52 applications which, we would expect, would include some reference to these vital documents.)’

22 March, 2026
“ONLY LABOR WILL SAVE PHMU” — A MAJOR BROKEN PROMISE
On their Facebook page, and mass mailout, Save the Powerhouse campaign provides a detailed 3-year account of Minister John Graham’s broken promises about ‘saving’ the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo. They provide links to announcements, speeches and budget estimates, and ask: ‘But can we trust him after such a major betrayal? There are growing concerns that the site is instead being revamped as an entertainment and event venue, similar to “Powerhouse Parramatta”.‘
After considerable details and references, they conclude: ‘Even if the Minister “saved the Powerhouse Museum”, it would be four times smaller than the original, hidden behind a row of souvenir shops, and built on the ruins of the state heritage-listed Powerhouse Museum. Nothing really “familiar to the community” which supported their world-class Museum for decades!’
They wrote: “ONLY LABOR WILL SAVE PHMU” — A MAJOR BROKEN PROMISE
Just three years ago on 22 March 2023, John Graham stood on the forecourt of the Powerhouse Museum and solemnly declared: “Only Labor will save the Powerhouse Museum” http://tiny.cc/t1d0101. He reminded his audience that “it was the Wran Labor Government that originally conceived the purpose-built institution on the site of the old Ultimo power station.”
Three days later, on 25 March 2023, NSW Labor was elected, and Graham became Minister for the Arts (among other portfolios) in the Minns Government.
Three years on, the outcome could not be more grim. The recently heritage-listed museum has effectively been destroyed: the Wran-era additions demolished to the ground, and only the brick façades of the original power station left standing.
Was John Graham disingenuous when he promised, 3 days before he became the Arts Minister, that “Labor will save the Powerhouse Museum”? Or is it a matter of “the tail wagging the dog” and the public service, who had planned the demolition since Gladys Berejiklian’s “backflip” in July 2020 (http://tiny.cc/03d0101) , overruling the Minister?
Either way, this effectively constitutes a MAJOR BROKEN PRE-ELECTION PROMISE and a complete betrayal of the trust of those who listened to the Minister’s deceiving speech, many of them eminent museum professionals and/or long term supporters of the “Powerhouse Museum cause.”
The Minister continues to assert that the rebuilt “Powerhouse Ultimo” will be a genuine museum (of applied arts and sciences?), “familiar to the community” (whatever that means).
(Budget Estimates Hearing of 6 March 2026. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/…/Transcript%20… page 34).
But can we trust him after such a major betrayal? There are growing concerns that the site is instead being revamped as an entertainment and event venue, similar to “Powerhouse Parramatta”, which—despite earlier promises of becoming Australia’s largest STEM museum—is increasingly being promoted as a destination centred on food and beverage with rooftop gardening experiences with all the experienced MAAS curators replaced by “creative artists”.
Even if the Minister “saved the Powerhouse Museum”, it would be four times smaller than the original, hidden behind a row of souvenir shops, and built on the ruins of the state heritage-listed Powerhouse Museum. Nothing really “familiar to the community” which supported their world-class Museum for decades!’
READ HERE for 22 March 2026. and HERE:  Save the Powerhouse 22 March

7 March, 2026
‘24 hour economy venues’
Bearing in mind the recent examples of increasing entertainment spaces in museums and galleries, at the cost of exhibition space, It was reported by a PMA colleague that ‘on ABC 702 radio about 9.15am on 7 March, the presenter was interviewing the “24-hour Commissioner” and the editor of Time-Out about the rise in the number of so-called “multi-purpose venues”.  This was evidently viewed as a good thing.  The disastrous effect of this trend on former museums is obvious.’
Further research was found an ‘AI Overview’, which summarised:
‘NSW 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Michael Rodrigues (formerly of Time Out) has championed the rise of multi-purpose venues, emphasizing that the future of Sydney’s nightlife is about creating diverse spaces where people of all ages feel comfortable to connect, combining arts, culture, sports, and dining.’ And in the Daily Telegraph Sydney: ‘Based on recent discussions and the 2024–2026 developments in NSW:

• Definition of Multi-Purpose: The Commissioner has highlighted a shift toward “multi-purpose” or “hybrid” venues, which are designed to host a variety of activities beyond just drinking, such as live music, stand-up comedy, art installations, and community events.
• The “Vibrancy Reforms”: These venues are being encouraged by the NSW government through “vibrancy reforms,” which allow venues and registered clubs to host live, outdoor entertainment and increase outdoor dining capacity without costly, time-consuming development applications.
• Purpose: These changes aim to move away from purely alcohol-focused nightlife towards safer, more diverse, and engaging spaces.
• Context: While the Commissioner has pushed for this, the rise of these venues has sometimes met resistance from local residents regarding noise concerns, such as with the proposed 24/7 venue at Barangaroo, though the government has pushed for these venues to operate under a more flexible, 24-hour strategy. ‘

3 February, 2026
(in print Feb 4)
‘Going, going … the cultural landmark disappearing before Sydney’s eyes’
In the Sydney Morning Herald, with a number of related photographs, Linda Morris discussed the strong public concerns about the current destruction of so much of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, in relation to both its heritage and its future role. She started: ‘After nearly 40 years, the Powerhouse Museum’s Wran Building at Ultimo is being slowly demolished as critics of the project mourn the loss of a cultural landmark the Minns government says needs to make way for a museum rebuilt for a new century. Site clearing has already claimed much of the roof and some of the signature steel ribs that formed the backbone of the 1988 adaptation of the Ultimo Power Station, home of the Museum for Applied Arts and Sciences. The original steel sheeting has been peeled away, exposing the arched structure. This week, many of the 17 steel ribs of the main wing and the 19 of the adjacent Galleria will be moved out. Under the $300 million redevelopment, internal walls, mezzanines, and staircases within the next door heritage-listed Boiler House and Turbine Hall will be removed at a net loss of dedicated exhibition space…’

11 January 2026
‘IS THIS THE END?’
Following the recent Inquiry that included many submissions about saving the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, and the recent news that work would start on the Museum buildings, Save the Powerhouse Museum advocacy team circulated comments by email and Facebook including:
‘In just one week, most of the Wran Building and Galleria glazing—and large sections of their corrugated roofs—have been stripped away. Within weeks, during the depths of the summer break,, the entire Wran-era heritage that the Arts Minister pledged to save, and that the Heritage Minister formally listed only eighteen months ago, will be destroyed forever.
Rarely has a community been misled so cynically by the very politicians who promised to protect their beloved museum in order to win office. (Read “Only Labor will save the Powerhouse Museum” http://tiny.cc/y7hx001)
$2 billion of taxpayers’ money has been squandered  Read HERE.  
A respected, world-class museum designed to last 100 years has been demolished after less than 40 years of highly successful operation, only to be replaced by three unviable commercial venues that will burden the NSW arts budget for decades to come.
“It is time for a fresh start in arts and culture policy in NSW,” the Arts Minister declared just days before the election. So why did he leave in place the MAAS–Create NSW–Infrastructure NSW team he inherited from the previous government—allowing them to press on with exactly the same destructive project? Yes IT IS TIME FOR A FRESH START and we cannot wait for the next election!’
Save also included some impressive photos of the destruction taking place on these award-winning buildings. READ and SEE HERE: Save the P 11 Jan 2026

 2 January, 2026
‘HOW SYDNEY’s POWERHOUSE MUSEUM WAS LOST’
Save the Powerhouse campaign reminds us on their Facebook page HERE, of Infrastructure NSW’s announcement in December, noting that: ‘In just three days’ time—on Monday 5 January 2026—pedestrian footpaths on Harris and Macarthur Streets around the Powerhouse Museum will close for the (unknown!) duration of the so-called “Revitalisation” project.  “These temporary closures are required to expand the project hoarding” Infrastructure NSW (INSW) advises, “to allow (the demolition contractor) greater access to the Harris Street forecourt and eventually the new building.” The 501 bus stop at Harris and Macarthur Streets has already been removed.’
Save then asks further: ‘To follow is the full demolition of the recently state heritage-listed Wran Building and Galleria—the destruction of the Wran Heritage—and with it the irreversible loss of Sydney’s world-famous Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
How did this happen, despite 11 years of sustained opposition from the community and heritage experts alike?
Our joint petition READ HERE to keep the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo open gathered more than 11,000 signatures, yet received no response when forwarded to the Minister for the Arts.
Want the full story? A supporter’s fact-packed video exposes the incompetence, politics, greed and pharaonic public money waste behind this disaster.
Watch https://youtu.be/QRwxKb0cC-Y. ‘

I January, 2026
‘How Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum Was Lost’
Entering the new year of 2026, and following the recent government Inquiry into cultural funding, and 10 years of protests about the ‘destruction’ of the Powerhouse Museum in its city site in Ultimo, a thoughtful researcher has put together a video of the Museum’s history, and the many issues faced along the way. Video producer and Presenter, identified as TDW, is credited at the end, along with support from Save the Powerhouse Museum and the Powerhouse Museum Alliance, and others. Save the Powerhouse has posted TDW’s video HERE.
They provide the following context, of which we are well aware:
‘Sydney’s beloved Powerhouse Museum was an original, inventive institution that told the story of technology, scientific discovery, and the creativity they generated…. This video tells the story of how anti-democratic planning processes and political failures at every level have led to the destruction of one of the world’s most distinctive cultural institutions.’
For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/savethepowerhouse
 https://powerhousemuseumalliance.com/news-chronology-2025/ (and earlier links)
It is recommended by TDW that we contact our local members of Parliament, and PMA adds that we request followup to recommendations made in submissions to the recent Inquiry.

January 2026
Followup information for Portfolio Committee No, 6 – Transport and the Arts
Structure and funding of the arts, music, night-time economy, and transport portfolios
Following the hearings with this Committee, in December 2025, the transcripts were published on their web, under ‘Hearings and Transcripts’. READ HERE and in our 12 December entry in the 2025 News Chronology.
Then, under the heading ‘Other Documents’, after requests were made from the Committee to some speakers for additional information, over 30 extra documents were submitted and published in January 2026. They include significant extra information submitted from the following members of the Powerhouse Museum Alliance who spoke at the hearing:
READ HERE
21/01/2026:  Additional Information:
Dr Lindsay Sharp, Founding Director, Powerhouse Museum
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders, Former Deputy Director, Powerhouse Museum
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders addressing paragraphs (a), (c) and (h) of the terms of reference
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders enclosing an image of the flooded Parramatta River
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders providing a link to a campaign video produced by a long-term supporter of the Powerhouse Museum
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders enclosing a letter from Dr Miles Oglethorpe, International Committee on the Conservation of Industrial Heritage, to the former NSW Premier
20/01/2026: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders & Mr Andrew Grant addressing paragraphs (c) and (h) of the terms of reference and enclosing correspondence between Mr Grant and Mr Bob Debus.
19/01/2026: Additional Information
Dr Lindsay Sharp, Founding Director, Powerhouse Museum
11/12/2025: Additional Information
Ms Jennifer Sanders, Former Deputy Director, Powerhouse Museum