Windorah Unveils Giant Yabby as Town Landmark

Windorah, a western Queensland town with a population of 100, has unveiled a 4.6-metre yabby statue to draw tourists and encourage longer stays. The crustacean stands as a town symbol, and the sculpture adds a large public landmark to a community whose annual social calendar includes international yabby races.

A Local Symbol on Albert Street

The town unveiled the statue during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Albert Street. Windorah lies 1,200 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. Barcoo Shire Mayor Sally O'Neil said the town is best known for its “international yabby races,” a feature of its annual social calendar.

O'Neil connected the sculpture to the experience around Cooper Creek. “[At] Cooper Creek ... you will pull up, go fishing, and you're bound to get a yabby or two, or five or more,” she said. The statue gives visitors a large-scale reminder of the crustacean associated with Windorah and its fishing stopovers.

The project cost $13,000 and received state funding. O'Neil said she hoped the statue would attract tourists and convince them to spend another day in Windorah. “Hopefully it'll pull the tourists up and they may hang around an extra day ... it's good for economic development of the communities out west,” she said.

Artist and Community Backing

Toowoomba artist Jobella Bennett built the sculpture from bird wire and sheet metal over three months. It’s the largest artwork she has made. Bennett accepted the commission after she began hosting classes in the central west.

“I got rung up and they [the council] were like, 'Could you make a yabby?'” Bennett said. “And I was like, 'Yeah, how big?'” The answer, she recalled, was: “As big as you can make it.” Bennett said, “It's my first big project, I learned a lot.” Before starting, she researched yabbies and said she hoped to make more “big things.”

Bennett also spoke about how local support helps artists. “There's so many amazing artists out there and it's really nice that councils or the communities or whoever's organised it is actually backing artists,” she said. According to Bennett, the council organised the Windorah commission and contacted her with the request.

A National Roadside Tradition

Windorah's yabby joins Australian roadside attractions such as Ballina's big prawn, Cardwell's big crab, Bowen's big mango, Tully's big gumboot and Woombye's big pineapple. University of the Sunshine Coast history lecturer Amy Clarke said large attractions are common in Canada and the United States too, while Australia continues to build more.

“Australia is still pedal to the floor, kind of, 'Let's build as many of them as we can,'” Clarke said. She said Australian statues often grow from community involvement, unlike the commercial incentive behind many American statues. Chambers of commerce, local councils or charities may join forces to celebrate a town and bring in visitors, she said.

Clarke said the trend began in the 1960s and has become more official over time. “We've now seen over time a professionalisation of big things,” she said, adding that companies and professional fibreglass artists now specialise in making giant objects. She said the works aim to be artistic. Windorah's statue brings the roadside tradition to Albert Street, connecting a town symbol with a state-funded tourism project and the hope that visitors will stay longer.