M12 MOTORWAY PASSES MAJOR MILESTONE

The newly completed 14 kilometres of toll-free road connects the Northern Road to works near Elizabeth Drive at Cecil Park and is now undergoing landscaping, safety installations and signage.

Once complete, the 16-kilometre motorway will provide direct access to Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek and link it to the broader Sydney motorway network.

And it’s not just a road – with the construction project also involving installing striking public artworks to welcome passengers from the new airport to Dharug country, and rest-stops designed to honour and celebrate the rich culture of the traditional custodians of the land. 

Towering into the sky at the Western Sydney Airport interchange, a 30-metre tall, 372-tonne steel sculpture depicting ‘The Great Emu In The Sky’ is being installed – designed by Aboriginal-owned design agency Balarinji to honour the ancient Dharug Dreaming story of the Great Emu constellation.

Conceived by Balarinji lead artist Tim Moriarty, and co-created by a cohort of artists (Danny Eastwood, Jamie Eastwood, Danielle Mate, Jasmine Seymour, Leanne Watson and Balarinji studio) the structure, once complete, will comprise a towering dome and a network of 3.8 kilometres of stainless steel branches, weighing 372 tonnes altogether. So far, the work has taken the team of artists a collective 53,800 hours to build, a task that Murrawarri/Euahlayi artist Danielle Mate has described as "an incredibly special experience, certainly a pinnacle in my career”.

Balarinji Indigenous Creative Lead, Ngunnawal man Johnny Bridges, explained the significance of the artwork, which has been designed and installed using a new ‘Designing with Country’ framework and public art strategy, created by Balarinji in co-design with the Western Sydney Aboriginal community.

“This is a groundbreaking approach to interpreting and embedding local Aboriginal culture and storytelling into a major infrastructure project. Through Balarinji’s co-design process, the M12 artworks are deeply connected to Country and reflect the unique cultural landscape of Western Sydney. They speak to the cultural resilience of Dharug people and Country,” says Bridges.

Other Indigenous Australian-inspired features on the new road include six large-scale pieces of public art on the overbridge safety screens, emu foot prints blasted into the concrete of the shared path near each rest stop, and six rest stops with seasonal native landscaping and eucalypt leaf canopies. So not only will a journey along the new road will be toll-free, it will also give Sydneysiders and visitors the chance to connect with the culture of the traditional custodians who have cared for the land and waters for millennia.

The $2.1 billion project is part of the broader Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan. The final two-kilometre section, connecting the motorway to the M7, remains under construction with bridgeworks and interchange ramps underway.

Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government says the project will enable faster and more efficient movement of freight in what will be a key area in and around the new airport.

“We’re building Australia’s future by delivering the road and rail connections this new Airport needs to connect it to Western Sydney and beyond,” King says.