Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rubbed shoulders with media mogul Lachlan Murdoch at the opening of Sydney’s first “queer” museum.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore were also among the 400 guests present when Qtopia Sydney officially opened on Friday.
The News Corp chairman, who is often labelled a conservative in the mainstream press, donated $1 million to the museum with his wife Sarah via their foundation, on top of $3.85 million in funds from the Minns government, and $300,000 from the City of Sydney Council.
On Friday, Mr Albanese promised a further $1.5 million in federal funds for future upgrades to the museum housed in an old police station in the inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst, ABC News reported.
The museum features a memorial to homosexuals who died during the AIDS epidemic, and features exhibitions on the history of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, “transgender” history, and Indigenous history.
The Qtopia Sydney website, which features an “acknowledgement of country” and is rainbow themed, features a message from Sarah Murdoch, who writes that “it is an honour for Lachlan and me to be able to lay the financial foundations” of the museum.
“Lachlan and I hope that our donation will encourage many more corporate entities, foundations and families, to invest in what will be an amazing institution – an institution that not only protects, respects and extends the equality of future Queer lives, but saves the lives of many young Australians,” she wrote.
According to a Kirby Institute report, there were an estimated 29,460 HIV sufferers living in Australia at the end of 2021, of which 25,750 were men, and 21,530 were infected through homosexual sex.
This means approximately 8.2% of gay or bisexual men in Australia have AIDS, almost one in 10.
