In what is a long-awaited decision, the NSW Government has officially declared that the Aboriginal flag will permanently replace the New South Wales flag on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
This decision overturns the NSW Government’s declaration last month that they would build a third flagpole for the Aboriginal flag on top of the Bridge, which was estimated to cost a hefty $25 million, with premier Perrottet saying that this mammoth sum will instead be reallocated to Closing the Gap initiatives across the state.
The $25 million had already been set aside in the state budget for the complex construction of a third flagpole, but with this recent backpedal on the project, it will instead be diverted into the existing $400 million state investment to Closing the Gap across NSW, in tandem with the NSW Government’s decision to hand back Goat Island, or Me-Mel to traditional owners in May.
Coming off the backend of NAIDOC Week, this decision has had public backing for decades, with Kamilaroi woman Cheree Toka launching an online campaign five years ago that amassed over 170,000 signatures and that ended up raising $300,000 to cover the projected costs of installation.
"I think this is really important for us as Indigenous people, achieving reconciliation through recognition, and while I know a flag is symbolic, it does spark conversation around the unjust things that are happening on Country to our people, and it shows that we are moving forward," she said in a statement to NITV news in February this year.
The existing NSW Flag will be relocated to a prominent location in the Macquarie Street East redevelopment precinct, where it will fly in one of Sydney’s busiest and most historical precincts near the Royal Mint and Hyde Park Barracks.