Adding flag to Harbour Bridge should cost under $500K, Daily Telegraph readers decide

Daily Telegraph readers have weighed in on how much NSW officials should spend to add the Aboriginal flag to the Sydney Harbour Bridge— and it’s not $25 million. See the poll results.

The NSW government should spend just a fraction of the $25 million budget allocated to add an extra flag to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Daily Telegraph readers have decided.

Hundreds of readers weighed to vote in a poll about how much was a fair price to fly the Aboriginal flag off our most famous bridge.

Of the poll options available, almost 200 readers decided $500,000 was the maximum NSW should pay to erect the flag on a flagpole.

Coming in at a close second, 175 readers said the state should pay a measly $1000 to get the flag up- a quarter of a percent of the original budget set out for the project.

Less than 20 voters decided that the $25 million figure first decided by officials was adequate.

The bulk of voters thought that a sum ranging between $1000 and $500,000 would be appropriate.

It comes as one of the companies contacted by the NSW Government over plans to add another flag pole to the Sydney Harbour Bridge provided a quote for less than $650,000 – raising questions over why the project was given a $25 million taxpayer-funded budget.

A $25 million price tag has been floated to add the Aboriginal flag to the iconic Sydney structure. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Northern Beaches-based Poseidon Poles and Flags quoted between $175-200k per pole for the project, which will result in the Aboriginal flag flying permanently on the iconic bridge, as well as poles holding the Australian and NSW flags being replaced.

Poseidon’s Lauren Mace said the firm quoted the figure when contacted by the NSW Government over the project, ahead of Premier Dominic Perrottet revealing he would review the cost amid a backlash.

Ms Mace said safety reasons could explain the high budget.

“It is a lot (of money) … I think there’s quite a lot of work that needs to go into it, for a flag to stand on the harbour bridge securely,” she said.

Another flagpole company, Mona Vale-based Goldspar, installed flag poles on the Anzac Bridge using a helicopter in 2000 ahead of the Sydney Olympics.

The business’s Maree Harris said that feat cost about $50,000, with a regular 20-metre flagpole costing between $30,000 to $40,000 now.

“I don’t know who’s going to get the money … I think traffic control and closing the bridge (would be expensive), but that’s why we put the Anzac Bridge ones up by helicopter.”

“We were a bit shocked to hear about the amount the government was going to spend. Hopefully it’s going to be all manufactured in Australia.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet has confirmed the NSW government will seek alternate quotes to bring down the $25 million bill to put the Aboriginal flag on top of the Harbour Bridge.

Treasurer Matt Kean said advice from experts revealed the exorbitant cost was due to the structure of the bridge, which required three six-storey flag poles and electrical work to remove a beacon on top of the bridge.

“Of course I want to make sure that taxpayers get the best (value) but let me be very clear … the Aboriginal flag should be flying on top of the Harbour Bridge,” he said.

“I‘ve been briefed this morning on this issue. Apparently it’s not just one flag.

“It’s three flag poles that need to be replaced. There is significant engineering work that’s required to make sure that we install those flag poles safely.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said: “Let me be very clear … the Aboriginal flag should be flying on top of the Harbour Bridge”. Picture: Toby Zerna

Health Minister Brad Hazzard also weighed in on the debate, adding that it was the government’s job to question advice from public servants.

On Monday Mr Perrottet vowed to reduce the “incredibly excessive” $25 million cost to permanently install the Aboriginal flag on Sydney Harbour Bridge.

He said the quote “doesn’t seem to pass the pub test”, but noted that the initial advice received from Transport for NSW included “complex” reasons for the cost.

“From my perspective, as I was saying yesterday, it doesn’t seem to pass the pub test when it comes to putting up a flag,” Mr Perrottet told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

“The advice that I have received is that it’s complex, there are heritage concerns … and all poles need to be’ replaced. It’s not a simple construction. (Although) I would say that it’s a pretty ridiculous and outrageous cost.

“We’ll work through that line by line and reduce the cost … in the most cost efficient way for taxpayers in NSW.”

Mr Perrottet wants all three flags – the NSW, Australian and Aboriginal – to fly on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge together. Picture: David Moir

Mr Perrottet “disagrees” with replacing the NSW flag with the Aboriginal one to minimise extra spending, remaining adamant about having all three flags fly on the bridge.

“I disagree with that. My preference would be for all three flags to fly. I think that’s incredibly important,” he said.

“That (NSW) flag should always have a prominent place on top of the harbour bridge. This shouldn’t be a divisive issue. If costs clearly become an issue, we’ll bring it down.”

However, punters on the street interviewed by The Telegraph struggled to identify the NSW flag.

Sydneysiders Margot Hensville and Bronwyn Ayres-Munro were among those who didn’t recognise it.

“I do believe the Aboriginal flag should be up, so I (would) put that (up) and leave New South Wales (out),” Ms Hensville said.

Ms Ayres-Munro thought the quote of $25 million taxpayer dollars for a third flag pole seemed “enormous.”

Despite himself calling the cost excessive, the Premier refused to say what price he would consider appropriate.

“I’ll come back to you once I’ve interrogated this in terms of the cost. They’ve raised a whole range of structural issues. I don’t want to put a figure on it,” he said.

“Twenty-five million dollars is incredibly excessive for what would appear to be, despite its challenging, a pretty simple task.”

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said he will speak directly Mr Perrotet about the “huge cost”. Picture: Nikki Short

It comes after Deputy Premier Paul Toole confirmed he would speak with Mr Perrottet about the “huge cost” of permanently installing the Aboriginal flag on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

“It’s something I’ll be raising it directly with the premier. Twenty-five million dollars is a huge cost,” he said on the radio show this morning.

“There’s plenty of engineering expertise out there. There’s a lot of innovation and I’m sure we can do it for a lot less than the $25 million and I think that’s something I’ll be raising with the Premier to actually look at doing.”

Shadow transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said “only Dominic Perrottet could procure the most expensive flagpole on the planet for $25 million”. A Transport NSW spokeswoman said the “$25 million figure is a budget for Transport to work within to install these three new flag poles, and the department has been working to refine the design and methodology to maximise value for money”.

“The project is complex and requires sophisticated engineering work on a heritage asset 97.4 metres above live roadway.”

Mr Perrottet was sincere about his remarks about the $25 million quote, clarifying there was nothing funny about them. Picture: Jeremy Piper

On Sunday Mr Perrottet joked he could go to Bunnings and install the flag himself at a lower cost.

Today the Premier adopted a more sincere tone, saying he said he did not view the expense “as a joke” and clarified his “lighthearted but ultimately frustrating” comment from Sunday’s press conference.

“I’ll go to Bunnings myself and climb up there and put the pole up,” he told reporters on Sunday.

“But apparently it does (cost that much), apparently that’s the cost, and I think that it’s an important decision that we’ve made.

“I think it brings unity to our country and I think it’s a small price to pay for that unification.”