What now?
I don’t know. I have taken some time of work and have been in tears a few times. I am currently trying my best to support some of the other volunteers, but I’m obviously not doing great myself. A museum being seized and destroyed is unquantifiably unthinkable. Even the thought of destroying a single artefact would tear the average historian apart, let alone thousands of them. The precedent this sets for museums in NSW is terrifying.
I have written a letter to the NSW Minister for Heritage, similar to this blog post, and I hope to hear back from them soon.
If you want to help then please read and share the charity board’s statement requesting a re-evaluation of the rationale for the seizure and the plans to destroy the ship. It refutes several things the NSW government has publicly stated.
Seizing a museum, including all its collections on loan from other groups, and then stating they wish to destroy it… is this really who the NSW government is? Is this what they want to do from now on?
It doesn’t look bad at all (referring to other comment). That US warship that returned from 200 days in deployment looks just as bad. Metal rusts in the ocean.
I hope you get the answers you need.
Thanks cars.