I think I'm onto my fifth bag of popcorn now, really enjoying this
ludicrous spectacle of Sydney's elites vs the common people. Class warfare
with the modern irony that nowadays the wealthy elites of inner Sydney vote
for the parties of the Left while the common people increasingly vote for
the conservatives. It's the most ridiculous spectacle I've seen in Sydney
in a long time.

The museum has a history of being both moved and dispersed. If it had a
"traditional" home, it was the Harris St building (1893-1981) that was
designed and built for it according to the standards for museums in the
1890s. Prior to that, it was located in unsatisfactory repurposed space,
twice. Since 1981 it has again been located in unsatisfactory repurposed
space, twice. Throughout all of this time most of its collection has been
in storage, opened up to the public only in the last 15 years. Now they're
planning to locate it in a purpose-built space in the centre of Sydney,
which happens to be nowhere near where it was in 1893, or even 1981. It's
sort of blindly obvious logic, but that has no impact on a mob that claims
it belongs to them - with the unspoken pretentious implication that
"ordinary" people don't appreciate culture, therefore it's best left for
the elite to enjoy.

It's one major reason I was relieved to move out of inner Sydney. I
couldn't stand these snobs and it irritated me too that they thought they
were acting on behalf of the working classes. If Wran and Ferguson really
thought they were doing something on behalf of their traditional
constituency, they would have moved the museum to Parramatta then - but,
no, that's headed in the wrong direction for the modern Labor Party.

As for the Catalina, the suggestion of damage is bs. Moving museum aircraft
is a well-established procedure.

Tony P