We saw several Laughing Kookaburras while we were on Bruny Island. Andrew from Inala explained that they aren’t actually native to Tasmania, but have been introduced. The story goes that when the Federation of Australia was created at the start of the twentieth century from the six separate British colonies some bright spark decided that the Kookaburra, a feisty if somewhat raucous bird, could act as a unifying symbol for the newly created nation, one behind which all Australians could unite.
There was only one flaw in this cunning plan, namely that neither Tasmania nor Western Australia actually had any Kookaburras within their borders. However there was no way that this mastermind was going to allow such trifling matters as geography, climate, ecology and millions of years of evolution to get in the way of a slick political statement, so it was decided that the Kookaburra should be introduced in those states without any. And they made it so.
Thus was a new nation forged, peace and harmony broke out across the Australian continent, and tears before bedtime were averted. Kookaburras rule OK.
Bringing this exciting story bang up to date, it’s rumoured that a crate of Kookaburras was recently spotted on a QANTAS flight to Washington DC, addressed to a Mr D Trump. This is of course only a rumour and I must confess that I’m the one who started it. However these are worrying times – some would say desperate – and we all need to find hope and comfort where we can. After the madness we’ve witnessed in recent days who’s to say that Kookaburras can’t bring peace to all mankind. I, for one, am prepared to give it a shot.
Platypus Pandemonium 