WESTERN SYDNEY OUTRAGED IF POWERHOUSE MUSEUM AND ANZ STADIUM PROJECTS ARE ABANDONED

MEDIA RELEASE WESTERN SYDNEY OUTRAGED IF POWERHOUSE MUSEUM AND ANZ STADIUM PROJECTS ARE ABANDONED

Business and community groups today urged the Premier not to break her promises to the people of Western Sydney to relocate the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta and to redevelop ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park as media reports grow about Cabinet moves to dump these ‘shovel-ready’ projects as an austerity measure. 

The Western Sydney Business Chamber and the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue joined forces to remind the Premier that she promised these projects to the people of the West during the last election and that the region expects her to keep that promise – especially as the projects will be a huge shot in the arm of local employment and a confidence boost to regional investment as we face the economic disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Western Sydney Business Chamber Executive Director David Borger said that abandoning the Powerhouse Museum and ANZ Stadium would be a devastating blow to the NSW Government’s narrative that they have deliver what they have promised to the people of Western Sydney for the last 9 years in office. 

“Western Sydney has a massive deficit in essential infrastructure. How does scrapping the Powerhouse Museum and ANZ Stadium address this ongoing rip off of the people of Western Sydney?” Mr Borger said. 

“No economy in a recession has gotten out of it by austerity. We need smart investment in our essential infrastructure to get the economy moving again. Both the Powerhouse Museum and ANZ Stadium tick the box on a crucial need for the people of Western Sydney.” 

Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue Chair, Christopher Brown AM said the taxpayers of Western Sydney have helped fund these great cultural institutions for 200 years and this government promised to ensure we finally got to share in the spoils of this contribution, but now we are told they might break this promise on the Powerhouse and break our hearts. 

“We also note that Allianz Stadium redevelopment at Moore Park was not stopped due to the fiscal cost of the pandemic but that Western Sydney is expected to again carry the burden for its eastern counterparts and give up its shot at hosting the best rectangular footy stadium on earth, and the huge tourism benefits that major events at Olympic Park would bring,” Mr Brown said. 

“We encourage the Premier to stay the course of her promise on these investments as they are both ‘shovel ready’ and will add much-needed stimulus to a regional economy hurt by the Coronavirus downturn and job losses.” 

Both organisations also condemned the actions of the NSW Labor Opposition who have publicly encouraged the Berejiklian Government to walk away from these iconic projects for Western Sydney.

“People across Western Sydney are asking why Labor would abandon them in their time of need and promote an inner-city agenda? In my day, Labor was the party of stimulus, expansion, public domain and social equity but this strategy is poisonous to local communities in the West,” said Mr Brown. 

“This museum and this stadium are fundamental to the quality of life for the commuter suburbs of the west and their development sends a message of hope across the region that Western Sydney residents are important – but the Opposition Leader has signalled she has a tin ear to their hopes and aspirations.” Mr Borger concluded.