It was enough to make Francis De Groot, the perpetrator of one of Australia's most famous political protests, rest contentedly in his grave forever.
She used the same ornate pair of golden, opal-studded scissors that Premier Jack Lang had employed at the original opening.
That was precisely the bee in De Groot's bonnet on March 19, 1932.
horseback and slashing the ribbon with his sword, complaining that representative rather than the premier.
folklore.
The present-day premier of NSW, Morris Iemma, was happy to play structure.
honours, and not only because he was approaching an election.
"Unlike 1932, the role of governor is now an authentically Australian office, chosen from among us and chosen to reflect us," soldiers."
200,000 people across the bridge as planes flew in formation overhead, ferries tooted their horns and generations recalled the great grey span's place in their lives.
They ranged from babies in prams to grannies in wheelchairs, there, from the descendants of Premier Lang to the descendants of the bridge's chief engineer John Bradfield.
to do it all again.
"I can remember the crowd of people, I can remember the elation of it all," said Bruce Boddington, 79, from Bathurst, who was four years old when he made his first crossing.
talking about it."
The oldest person making the crossing today, Jean Martin, 99, of Sydney's Lane Cove, did so in a wheelchair but she, too, walked on opening day in 1932.
over the heads of the crowd, and the "buzz" when Francis De Groot "I felt so privileged to cross the bridge on opening day," she said.
years later."
Elaine Beavis, 68, from the NSW north coast, accepted a proposal of marriage on the bridge's northern Pylon 49 years ago.
own fireworks," she said.
Not all of the tears shed today were joyful.
construction of the 52,000 tonne giant, which took 1,600 men eight years to build during a severe depression.
Olive Kerr, from northern NSW, wept for the father she lost as a three-year-old, Alexander Faulkner.
bridge.
"I can burst into tears any tick of the clock," said Mrs Kerr.
"Every time I see a photo of the bridge I think of dad.
"He was a lovely man." Mr Iemma noted that workers 75 years ago wore no safety harnesses, helmets or protective clothing.
"Today such a loss of life would seem appalling," he said.
strong, vigilant, democratic trade union movement."
the National Heritage List.
confidence for a nation that had been on its knees," Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.
steel" which showed what Australia could do.
"It will never date, never grow old," she said.
"It has become a structure for all time.
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