Aussie Big Things

Overview

Our big brown land is dotted with over-sized manmade statues of animals, produce and objects we have come to know affectionately as “Big Things”. This stamp issue follows 2007’s popular Big Things stamps illustrated by Reg Mombassa. Colourful, in-your-face and entertaining, a Big Thing makes an unequivocal mark on this ancient continent. Most are erected primarily for commercial reasons, to attract visitors or promote a business, with some also promoting wildlife conservation.

One of the attractions for locals and tourists is “collecting” visits to Australia’s Big Things. That means the release of a dedicated stamp issue of even more of these landmarks, with illustrations by renowned illustrator Nigel Buchanan, makes it a great subject for Collecting Month 2023.

Technical specifications

Issue date: 4 September 2023
Issue withdrawal date: 1 April 2024
Denomination: $1.20 x 5
Stamp & product design: Sonia Young, Australia Post Design Studio
Stamp illustration: Nigel Buchanan
Paper: gummed: Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor
Paper: self-adhesive: Domain S/A Securpost MC 90 P11P Non-Phos
Printer: EGO
Printing process: Offset lithography
Stamp size (mm): 26 x 37.5
Minisheet (mm): 170 x 80
Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86
Sheet layout: Module of 50 (2 x 25 no design)
FDI Postmark: Dadswells Bridge VIC 3385
FDI withdrawal date: 3 October 2023

Stamps in this issue

$1.20 The Big Tasmanian Devil, Mole Creek, Tas.

The Big Tasmanian Devil stands at the entrance to the privately-owned Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary near Mole Creek, in northern Tasmania. Situated in 82-acres of native bushland, the sanctuary is dedicated to the care and conservation of the region’s native wildlife, including the threatened Tasmanian Devil. The imposing two-by-three-metre statue, fangs bared, signals the entrance to the sanctuary and promotes its Save the Tasmanian Devil program, financed from entry fees and proceeds from the shop. The carnivorous Tasmanian Devil can be found in all habitats throughout Tasmania, though its numbers have declined by more than 80 per cent since the mid-1990s due to the devil facial tumour disease.

$1.20 Big Swoop, Canberra, ACT

The defensive behaviour of one of Australia’s favourite birds gives name to the Big Swoop sculpture located in Garema Place, in central Canberra. Made by local artist Yanni Pounartzis, at 2.4 metres high, 3.5 metres long and weighing half of metric tonne, the Big Swoop shows a gigantic Magpie pecking at a huge chip. Funded by a grant from the City Renewal Authority to attract visitors to the precinct the sculpture was installed in March 2022 but was vandalised beyond repair soon after. A replica sculpture, reinforced with fibreglass, and based on a steel plinth, was installed on December 2022 in a more centralised location, where it continues to be enjoyed by passers-by.

$1.20 Giant Koala, Dadswells Bridge, Vic.

The Giant Koala is located in the western Victorian town of Dadswells Bridge, 20 kilometres south-east of Horsham. Made in 1989 by Dutch sculptor Ben Van Zetten, it is composed of bronze and fibreglass supported by a steel frame. At 14 by eight metres, this massive structure is more a building than sculpture.

Giant Koala is a tourist complex that includes a café, farm and native-animal-petting zoo built primarily for touristic purposes, it was also used to highlight the vulnerability of Victoria’s Koala population in the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009.

$1.20 Giant Murray Cod, Swan Hill, Vic.

The Giant Murray Cod, a tribute to a legendary native fish, is located outside the city of Swan Hill railway station on a small park. Fifteen metres long, three metres wide and five metres high, the steel and fiberglass Giant Murray Cod is a symbol of civic pride, and highlights awareness that numbers of this species, once common in the Murray–Darling River system, have been greatly reduced. It was originally built in 1991 as a movie prop for a film, Eight Ball. After the film was made, the big fish was donated to the community of the City of Swan Hill.

$1.20 The Big Jumping Crocodile, Wak Wak, NT

The final Big Thing in this issue is the Big Jumping Crocodile, located in the carpark of the privately run Original Adelaide River Queen Jumping Crocodile Cruises, located just off the Arnhem Highway at the Adelaide River Bridge, Wak Wak, some 55 kilometres east of Darwin, Northern Territory. Built in 1984, the sculpture represents a crocodile balanced on its tail, in imitation of a real crocodile leaping out of the water to catch food. It advertises company’s tourist boat cruises on the Adelaide River, where visitors can witness huge saltwater crocodiles up to seven metres in length.