Ducking flood sadness with a quacker of an idea
AFTER a heartbreaking fortnight of tornadoes and flooding, Bundy folk might finally have a reason to get their tail feathers in a flap with a silver, or should we say, yellow lining on the horizon.
A campaign to bring the giant, five-storey high and wide floating rubber duck from the Sydney Festival to the Burnett River began last week and it's garnering plenty of support with Premier Campbell Newman even making mention of the campaign in parliament this week.
"It's about reclaiming the river and having a smile and a laugh at something that has ravaged the community," Creative Regions projects and marketing officer Jess Marsellos said.
"The whole idea is to have something to look forward to in the future but not take away from what's happening in the community now."
Sydney Festival organisers have offered their support saying the ducking enormous rubber bird is ours to use if we can get it here.
"The Sydney Festival people said we'd need a river engineer to look at a place in the river that wasn't particularly tidal or windy," Mrs Marsellos said.
"They deflate the big duck and it's got a big barge it sits on in the river.
"The barge has to be dismantled and put on an articulated semi-trailer and then when it gets here they have to rebuild the barge, tug it into position and then reinflate the duck."
Mr Newman mentioned the campaign in State Parliament this week.
"Throughout the ordeal, people kept their sense of humour," he said. "Madam Speaker, the Minister for Police and Community Safety and Member for Bundaberg Jack Dempsey tells me that a campaign has started to bring the giant inflatable duck from the Sydney Festival to Bundaberg in an effort to reclaim the river.
"That's such a Queensland thing to do."
Mrs Marsellos said the campaign was not seeking monetary support from members of the community with more important charities around in the wake of the floods.
"It's more about getting support from businesses like transport companies to donate their help in kind," she said.
If things go to plan, Mrs Marsellos said the duck could be here in May or June.
"People are still rebuilding and recovering and we don't want to take away from that," she said.
