Monday 28 March 2022 – Ferrycarrig hosted a traditional Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony at our site compound in Mutch Park in Pagewood to mark the commencement of construction for the project and pay respect to traditional owners and custodians of the land.

Dr Peter McKenzie, an Eora/Anaiwan Artist, Musician, Teacher, and Researcher from the historic La Perouse Aboriginal Community, conducted the Welcome to country – a traditional aboriginal custom that sees traditional custodians formally welcoming others onto their land. It follows thousands of years of protocols and is intended to offer safe passage and protection to visitors.

Brendan Kerin a proud Marrawarra, Barkindji, and Arrernte man and cultural representative of the Aboriginal Land Council, performed a traditional smoking ceremony with eucalyptus leaves – a cleansing ritual believed to have the ability to ward off bad spirits and cleanse the land.

The ceremony was attended by Ferrycarrig’s project delivery team and leadership team and senior members of Transport for NSW including Executive Director, Muriel Demarcus.

Ms Demarcus addressed the gathering “I feel proud and privileged to be with you for my first smoking ceremony. This is quite a milestone for me as I am embarking on my own Australian journey.”

“As I am a new Australian, I researched smoking ceremonies – I learned that it is intended to be cleansing and ward of bad spirits from the people and the land to make pathways for a brighter future and that is what we are doing tonight.”

Ferrycarrig Director, Jason Finn, said that Ferrycarrig is invested in building sustainable relationships with Indigenous communities. “As well as our commitment to exceed government targets for aboriginal participation in the delivery of the project, we are committed to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and the community to build positive relationships” he said.

The event was catered for by indigenous Catering Business, Kalico Catering, who provided Indigenous inspired finger food featuring a range of traditional native aboriginal ingredients.

Ferrycarrig acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.

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