The completion date and construction budget of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has slipped again, after Spanish authorities confirmed that the Victorian branch of the CFMEU had “taken a keen interest” in the church’s ongoing construction.
An insider at the CFMEU said once they got wind of the project they were confident there were ways they could help. “We heard that the Sagrada Familia has taken 144 years and €480 million to build, which is a decent start. But we felt that we could help blow those figures out a little further,” one source said.
Within hours of CFMEU representatives arriving at the scene, sources confirmed the basilica was reclassified from a holy site to a ‘Big Build Infrastructure Project’, making it eligible for cost overruns, obscure subcontracting and a 15% ‘relationship tax’.
“We’ve already managed to identify some quick wins,” a spokesperson said. “A lot of things were not being done to our standards. If a single gargoyle doesn’t cost the same as a suburban train station, alarm bells start ringing. That’s just basic governance.
“We’ve got a fantastic roster of preferred suppliers. So we’ve made it very, very clear that they should strongly consider using those suppliers, which is what has now happened”.
The famous church is now due for completion in 2255 with a budget of €22 billion.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was unavailable for comment.
