The bunyip cometh to Gungahlin.

Yep, hear what you say: My next book will be ‘Clancy, the Giant Cockroach that ate Tuggeranong’ (Starting with the Hyperdome !!!) Whadda-think??, Cheers, Michael Salmon.

Thanks, Gungahlin Al.

I’m sorry I couldn’t do you a hundred foot jobber, p1, but we are all pretty excited about our statue. The feedback we’ve had has been consistently positive, and it’s exciting to watch new generations of kids fall in love with the Bunyip.

I think it says a lot about the character and flavour of Canberra that ordinary people can have dreams and see them come to life, and I would really like to thank the Chief Minister for giving us this opportunity. I think it will add something very special to Gungahlin and Anne Ross has done a superb job with her vision for the sculpture. Despite all the different interests and temperaments on the tender committee, there was not a single person there who didn’t fall instantly in love with the maquette. I know that people will either love it or hate it, but at the end of the day I had to do what I thought was right for the Gungahlin community and the author, Michael Salmon, and especially for my much-loved Alexander.

I think RiotACT can also be proud of this achievement – love it or hate it, the sculpture had its genesis in this forum and I don’t think there’s anywhere quite like it.

I would also like to thank Gungahlin Al for a great campaign to bring the bunyip to Gungahlin and Michael Salmon for supporting us all the way. It has been a lot of fun and a great ride.

bitzermaloney said :

Amazing… Stanhope’s commisioned a self statue.

Can’t wait for the:
– Katy Gallagher,uhm… I mean the fairy statue for Fyshwick;
– Andrew Barr, ops… Peter Pan (& the lost boys) of Pialigo; and
– and the Shane Rattenbury, oh.. the White Rabbit (along with Alice & the Queen of Hearts) for Reid

OMG Are you really Alistair (I hate anything left and I can do it better…Coe)????

Back in January 2009…
Strangely, it started when talking about a police station back in August 2008.
And then in September 2009, Gungahlin Al announced the bunyip was a Government action item.

Who ever said letting the readership rabble about for a while without a moderation queue couldn’t be constructive?

Without taking anything from Granny’s bunyip, I would have liked to see it 100ft tall straddling the road into Canberra…

It was a lot earlier than that actually, but I can’t find the article. It was a thread on the recurrent theme of what warrants decent urban art. ‘Granny’ chimed in along the lines of “someone should make a statue of the Monster that ate Canberra” and I chimed in that it could go outside the new Gungahlin Library. So, despite what the Chief Minister’s media release says, it was Granny’s idea – Estelle, from the Gungahlin Community Council executive.

Estelle went on the represent GCC on the tender selection committee for the statue, and I think the final design really meets our goals of an interactive, accessible and friendly art piece that will ultimately help draw new generations into the library to try to find the book that for many of us who were kids in Canberra was our introduction to reading.

Quick funny story: during the first meeting with Arts ACT after Jon Stanhope approved our idea, I suggested (kind of in jest) the bunyip could be scaling the wall of the new library, with a bite taken out of the eave. The head of libraries at the meeting almost had kittens…

Amazing… Stanhope’s commisioned a self statue.

Can’t wait for the:
– Katy Gallagher,uhm… I mean the fairy statue for Fyshwick;
– Andrew Barr, ops… Peter Pan (& the lost boys) of Pialigo; and
– and the Shane Rattenbury, oh.. the White Rabbit (along with Alice & the Queen of Hearts) for Reid