The City of Sydney Council agreed to spend $9 million on three works of art on Monday night, but just what ratepayer’s money is buying remains a mystery not being revealed by Council until Tuesday morning.

Surprising secrecy has surrounded the project, leading to bitter clashes between a councillor, Liberal Edward Mandla, and his colleagues, over his push to disclose the 10 finalists before the final decision.

On Monday night, Cr Mandla moved to have the finalists made public and let the public vote for their favourite works, but his amendment was defeated 9-1, with some councillors arguing that revealing the works would leave the artists and their ideas vulnerable, discouraging them from submitting to the tender process in the future.