Sword out of hiding as Queen’s woman reopens dream bridge: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Peter Lalor, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 Mar 2007: 3.
Abstract
At yesterday’s anniversary celebrations, Premier Morris Iemma set things right, stepping back and asking the Queen’s representative, Governor Marie Bashir, to cut the ceremonial ribbon.
After the official ceremony the dignitaries walked across the bridge with the crowd, with Iemma holding his children’s hands. Apart from the cameras, he could have been any other parent. State Opposition Leader Peter Debnam marched anonymously with his family.
“Let us never forget the bridge was built at a very heavy cost in lost lives and shattered families,” Mr Iemma said. “These workmen made the supreme sacrifice for industry. Sixteen deaths was a terrible toll. Today such a loss would be regarded as appalling and unacceptable. At the height of the Depression, 16 lives was considered acceptable, even a point of pride.”
Full Text
SEVENTY-FIVE years ago today, an incensed monarchist on horseback infamously beat the NSW Labor premier to the punch at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Jack Lang had defied king andconstituents by insisting on cutting the ribbon himself, only to be upstaged by the sword-wielding Francis de Groot, a member of the right-wing paramilitary New Guard.
At yesterday’s anniversary celebrations, Premier Morris Iemma set things right, stepping back and asking the Queen’s representative, Governor Marie Bashir, to cut the ceremonial ribbon.
Sydney’s traffic was stopped for the massive birthday party, and an estimated 200,000 people walked across the bridge, proving time has not dulled the attraction of the world’s greatest arch.
The day went smoothly until a commuter fatality at North Sydney station, where marchers disembarked for the crossing, caused southbound trains to be cancelled for a short time.
In 1932, 750,000 people marched, three people died, many were injured when a vantage point collapsed and thousands fainted during the festivities.
Most who crossed yesterday had registered and followed instructions to come prepared. At the last minute, authorities allowed all to march without displaying their file numbers.
Professor Bashir cut the ribbon and echoed the words of Lang, re- dedicating the bridge to the people of Australia and Sydney.
“It is a bridge of dreams,” she said. “Purchased by the coins of our people, it has paid us back a hundred-fold. It is our landmark, our achievement, our conquest, our bridge.”
She said it had been a beacon for migrants who had arrived by ship, and more recently, a witness to the powerful People’s Walk for Reconciliation in 2000.
Relatives of De Groot, Lang and the father of the bridge, chief engineer John Bradfield, were among yesterday’s crowd.
After the official ceremony the dignitaries walked across the bridge with the crowd, with Iemma holding his children’s hands. Apart from the cameras, he could have been any other parent. State Opposition Leader Peter Debnam marched anonymously with his family.
Also in yesterday’s crowd was Bruce Boddington, 79, from Bathurst, who first walked across the bridge when he was four. He says he was the youngest to cross. “I can remember the crowd, I remember De Groot cutting the tape,” he said. “It was my first living memory.
“It’s a great feeling to know I’m alive and kicking and able to experience a similar feeling again. It was a wonderful experience for a young bloke, and is a wonderful experience for an old bloke.”
Dawn Fraser carried her three-year-old grandson, Jackson, on her shoulders. “It’s a wonderful atmosphere,” she said. “This is a great day for Australia.”
The Premier later unveiled a plaque in memory of the 16 men who died in the bridge’s construction. In 1932, authorities thought any mention of the dead would take the edge off the ceremony.
“Let us never forget the bridge was built at a very heavy cost in lost lives and shattered families,” Mr Iemma said. “These workmen made the supreme sacrifice for industry. Sixteen deaths was a terrible toll. Today such a loss would be regarded as appalling and unacceptable. At the height of the Depression, 16 lives was considered acceptable, even a point of pride.”
The family of John Alexander Faulkner, who was 40 when he was killed during the construction, witnessed the ceremony.
Granddaughter Rhonda Loughnan, 53, said the family were immensely proud of what he had done. “It was a very hard life for all the family — it was very hard for my grandmother with the four children,” she said. “She is as much a hero as he was.”
And after many denials, Bridge Climb boss Paul Cave finally acknowledged on TV last night he had bought De Groot’s sword.
Editorial — Page 17