Construction workers refurbishing the Sydney Opera House stopped work at 10am Monday, not due to industrial unrest, but to commemorate something grand.
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November 9 marked 60 years since the first performance was given at the state's major entertainment centre, while it was still under construction.
Illawarra-raised opera singer Rachel Bate performed Old Man River and The Ballad of Joe Hill, in the same vein that singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson did on the steps of the Opera House in 1960.
"I've sung in the Opera House before, but never have I felt as emotional as I did today looking at the faces of wonderful, ordinary folk who have helped build it," Ms Bate said of her audience, which included past and present construction workers on the site.
"They wanted an opera singer who, much like Paul Robeson, had come from a working class background."
Some members of the audience were part of the original crowd from the historic performance 60 years ago.
Ms Bate's family has been well embedded in mining for generations, with her brothers and sisters still working for mining companies.
She's the only sibling who travelled a different path and chose to become a professional singer, but was honoured to be given an opportunity to perform her craft after COVID-19 heavily impacted her industry.
"I feel incredibly humbled and honoured, it's an experience I'll never forget," she said.
South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said while they wanted to have far more in the crowd, they were still able to live stream the event and boost morale of workers here and overseas.
"It boosts the morale and brings some hope at a time of a lot of uncertainty," he said.
"It was one of those symbolic moments in 1960 ... when the footings and the foundations being laid, and now in 2020 we're singing to a completed Opera House with the same songs, the same fire in the belly and the same struggles."
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