$25 million detail in Sydney Harbour Bridge plan: 'I'll go to Bunnings myself’

Plans for the Aboriginal flag to fly atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge have left NSW taxpayers reeling over the $25 million bill.

This includes the NSW Premier, who laughed off questions from reporters on Sunday about why the project has been priced so high.

“I don’t know but it does apparently,” Dominic Perrottet said.

“I’ll go to Bunnings myself and climb up there and put the pole up.”

Social media users have slammed the cost as “exorbitant”’ and called on the State Government to “get a second quote".

“Are they on the same planet as us?” one person wrote on Facebook. “Put $23 million towards better housing for the first nation.”

“As premier, you should know exactly how they arrived at this cost,” another said.

One user even went as far as to post a $500 ad for the work on Airtasker, an outsourcing app, saying they weren’t happy with the current quote.

“Pole needs to be stiff and able [to withstand] the punishment Mother Nature throws at her when erect,” it read.

“You may need a small ladder and rope. Easy access. There is a small pond below.”

Mr Perrottet has since buckled to pressure from the public, saying he will review the “incredibly excessive” $25-million cost.

“It doesn’t appear to pass the pub test when it comes to putting up a flag,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday.

“I accept that it’s not a simple process and it’s not a simple construction, but I would say that it seems to be a pretty ridiculous and outrageous cost.”

Mr Perrottet went on to explain the project would be complex due to heritage concerns and would involve the replacement of the other two poles, with all three poles the equivalent size of a six-storey building.

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At the moment, the Aboriginal flag is only flown on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge for 19 days each year.

Its permanent inclusion will feature a 20-metre high flagpole at the bridge’s summit next to the Australian and NSW flags.

Under the new plans, work is expected to be completed later this year.

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