The NSW Premier’s PR team might want to be a little more careful allowing Perrottet to loiter around historic buildings and brag about ‘bulldozing’ them.
Earlier, Perrottet and Albanese stood side-by-side in front of the Registrar-General building on Prince Albert Drive and proudly proclaimed that it was going to be demolished to make way for a commemorative plaza.
With the gorgeous, heritage-listed sandstone facade behind him, NSW Premier said:
‘The building behind us will be knocked over so that there’s an appropriate thoroughfare from the CBD right through to the parks and gardens that makes Sydney such a magnificent Harbour City.
‘This is a great global city and we need to make the most of it. This plan will do that but it is also a plan to commemorate the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
‘By knocking down this building, we will have this great plaza opened up for the people of NSW to enjoy, to appreciate, but most importantly to remember the service and dedication of Queen Elizabeth to the great people of NSW.’
He probably should have made it clear that an annex was being demolished, not the ‘building’ which started construction in 1909. If you mean ‘annex’ don’t say ‘building’.
Perrottet forgets that the people of Sydney have been mistreated before, such as the removal of our avenue of 130-year-old commemorative fig trees for a widely hated tram line. Gladys, the former Premier, tried to kill off the Powerhouse Museum, and the state did little to stop uni students destroying public monuments during the BLM riots. Then we have the ongoing butchering of George Street (which looks like an empty rail yard) lined by boarded-up historic stores that went bust in the name of ‘modernisation’.
So forgive us if we get nervous when Premiers use the word ‘bulldozer’ within earshot of history.
What’s next for Perrottet’s April Fools PR team? Ferry the Premier over to the steps of the Opera House and announce a brand new off-ramp for the Cahill Expressway while wearing a hard-hat? No, hang on. The City of Sydney already called dibs on removing the Cahill Expressway to make way for a ‘pedestrian high line’.
We are at the point that Perrottet could announce turning the Harbour Bridge into a wind farm and we’d believe him.
