A proposal to send at least some of the Ultimo-based collection westward is expected to be detailed in an updated 20-year strategy that Infrastructure NSW will hand to the state government next month.

"I have a view that we need to do more culturally in western Sydney," Mr Baird said on Wednesday. "All of the dollars are pretty much spent in the city, so we certainly need to look at opportunities."

"I'm sure there will be many exciting things to talk about when that report is released in coming weeks."

The museum is resisting the push to relocate, but the idea has won enthusiastic support in Sydney's west. The University of Western Sydney's vice-chancellor and Parramatta's Lord Mayor count among those who say the museum should be moved in its entirety.

"I think the Powerhouse Museum would have a great time in western Sydney," said David Capra, spokesman for the Western Sydney Arts and Culture Lobby. "Start hiring the trucks!"

Parramatta's Lord Mayor Scott Lloyd said: "The money they would get for selling their land in the city would definitely pay for a ... wonderful building here in Parramatta that would actually have some room to grow."

But any move to sell the Ultimo site would be "very shortsighted," said UTS' deputy vice-chancellor Patrick Woods. Moving only part of the museum was "more palatable" than a complete relocation, he said.

"There is absolutely a need for greater cultural opportunities in the west but it doesn't need to be at the expense of the cultural opportunities that currently exist elsewhere in the city," he said.

Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore said keeping the Powerhouse at Ultimo "doesn't prevent staging exhibitions or establishing another campus in other parts of Sydney".

However, Carriageworks director Lisa Havilah, who used to head the Campbelltown Arts Centre, said western Sydney should not be handed the leftovers of arts institutions headquartered in Sydney's CBD.

"Western Sydney should have the opportunity to be the main game," she said. "Not to have the second part of an institution but to be the first home – perhaps with a second campus in the CBD. Whether this is the Powerhouse Museum or another institution."

The chief executive of Museums and Galleries of NSW, Michael Rolfe, said further investment should be made in existing cultural institutions in western Sydney.

"There is no doubt also that Parramatta has long deserved a major piece of cultural infrastructure – personally I'm not convinced that it should be [Powerhouse]," he said.

Missing from the debate is western Sydney's "cultural champion", Liz Ann Macgregor.

The director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, who was appointed the Cultural Ambassador for western Sydney in June by Mr Baird, declined to comment.