Museum to forge ahead
Chamber of Commerce ‘not sold’ on unpopular plan
THE Government will push ahead with its deeply unpopular plan to build a $50 million museum at Myilly Point.
Of the more than 1600 voters who had responded by last night to an NT News poll on if they supported the project, 82.5 per cent said they were against it.
Tourism and Culture Minister Lauren Moss yesterday said the Government re- mained committed to the idea, which would see money ploughed into the site of the former Kahlin Compound and old Darwin Hospital.
Brian O’Gallagher of the NT Chamber of Commerce said he was not sold on the concept of the museum given the difficult economic climate.
“We understand that the Government has good inten- tions in providing this museum and trying to stimulate the tourism industry, however like the rest of the general public we have concerns about the economic benefit of spending $50 million at this time on a new museum,” he said.
Mr O’Gallagher argued the Government would be better off upgrading the NT’s existing museums with up to $10 mil- lion and spending the rest of the money on other infrastructure projects. That money could be spent on upgrading schools, improving road infrastructure and upgrades to the electricity system to reduce the risk of blackouts in the Wet, he said. Mr O’Gallagher said the Government had not released enough evidence to show the museum would have a positive economic impact. Opposition Leader Gary Higgins called for Labor to scrap the museum.
“The $50 million earmarked for the museum at Myilly Point should be canned immediately,” he said.
“In the current economic climate, that $50 million could be better spent on things the Territory and Territorians need, including more police officers and frontline services, teachers and nurses.
“It’s absolutely not appropriate to build, or even further consider the project.”
Ms Moss said she believed Territorians would eventually get on board with the plan.
“We are confident Territorians will embrace this job creating project — and the significant economic and social boost it will provide — as the concept comes to life in the near future,” she said.