Giant yabby unveiled in Windorah as Australia's latest 'big thing'
Windorah, a tiny outback town of about a hundred residents, has added a new landmark to Australia's famous road‑trip scenery – a 4.6‑metre tall sculpture of a yabby perched beside Cooper Creek. The oversized crustacean, funded by a $13,000 state grant, is already being billed as the latest ‘big thing’ to lure curious travelers into the remote community.
The piece was conceived and built by Toowoomba‑based artist Jobella Bennett, who was approached by the local council to ‘make a yabby’ as large as possible. Over three months she fashioned the sculpture from bird‑wire and sheet metal, drawing on her own research into the creature’s form. Bennett describes the project as her first major commission and a stepping stone toward larger public works.
The yabby joins a quirky pantheon of oversized objects that pepper the Australian landscape – from Ballina’s giant prawn to Woombye’s towering pineapple. Such monuments have become a grassroots strategy for small towns to boost tourism, celebrating local quirks while offering photo‑ops for passing motorists. Windorah’s annual international yabby races now have a permanent, metal counterpart.
Scholars note that the ‘big things’ phenomenon has evolved from roadside novelties of the 1960s into a semi‑professional industry. Historians at the University of the Sunshine Coast observe that community groups, councils and private firms now collaborate to produce sculptures that are both kitsch and deliberately artistic. The Windorah yabby exemplifies this blend of local pride, artistic ambition and the continuing Australian love of monumental whimsy.