Facilitate site ownership for the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum
Petitioner:
Ms Kathryn White
| Member:
Doyle, Trish
| No. of Signatories:
6,856
| Date closed:
29/05/2025
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
The national and international significance of the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum has been recognised in NSW Parliament by the Minister for Tourism and the Arts. The museum is at imminent risk of closure due to restrictions imposed by its landlord, preventing critical security upgrades and repairs, following a break-in and theft in August 2024. Thus, the museum is forced to pay thousands each week for security guards. This could quickly extinguish remaining funds, which would result in relinquishment of licences, leaving the museum no choice but to dispose of the precious collection.
The French multinational Thales Group, the museum's landlord, issued a draft contract, in 2022, to sell the museum its integral heritage site for a nominal price. This has now been downgraded to an offer of a long-term lease, retaining the obstructive approval process for all works, and disturbingly, the right to evict the museum and repurpose or demolish the buildings. The current expert volunteers want to rebuild the museum and secure its future by transitioning to salaried staff. The autonomy of site ownership, as promised by Thales, is critical to this aim.
The undersigned petitioners ask the Legislative Assembly to call on the government to support and expedite a requested heritage order (request number 38145) and facilitate the purchase of this important site by the museum, allowing it to complete the essential work to retain its licences, to reopen, and to continue, unhindered, with its exciting future plans.
