Sydney-based kapa haka group Te Aranganui has joined First Nations performers to help mark the opening of the new Western Sydney International Airport.
The A$5.3 billion airport officially opened on Sunday.
Te Aranganui representative Louise Cooper says the group took part in the opening to show their support for Te Iwi Moemoeā, the Indigenous peoples of Australia.
“The importance is visibility, its presence, and tautoko of Te Iwi Moemoeā. We know that our culture, their culture, we’re better together.”
Cynthia Morrison, of the Darug people, performed at the opening on Darug Country, alongside members of other First Nations, including Yuin, Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta and Gamilaroi.
For Morrison, taking part in the opening was a special moment for her people.
“To be here, part of it, is a beautiful journey for us,” she says. “We can’t explain it anymore. To be the ones here to share this opening.”
Morrison says acknowledging each other’s cultures creates a sense of belonging.
“There’s no one’s upstairs, no one’s down the bottom, we’re all eye contact and we’re all on the one journey.”
Cooper says most Māori who move to New South Wales settle in Western Sydney, making the new airport particularly convenient for the community.
“This airport is within 30 minutes of most of those major areas in which we live.”
Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight from Auckland landed on Monday morning, becoming the first international passenger service to arrive.
Among those attending the opening was Herbert Hau, who helped build scaffolding for the airport’s rail tunnels. He says many of his fellow workers were Māori.
“Our crews were mostly all Māori. A lot of the actual miners, they were Māori.”
Returning to the site brought back memories.
“It was actually good to come back here and have a look, because I haven’t been back here since I left here in ’23.”
Morrison says the new airport will create employment opportunities for First Nations people, from aviation roles to jobs with businesses and services operating at the airport.
Beyond the economic opportunities, Morrison says the opening is also about bringing communities together.
“To be part of this opening with the First Nation, my Māori loved ones, and the Chinese and the Indians, it’s a diversity of all coming together.
“It’s called closing the gap,” she says. “And coming together, it’s called one love.”
