Donald’s new kookaburra is the brainchild of Jodie Hollis, current chairperson of the Donald 2000 Committee.

Jodie contacted the artist, Chris Fussell, who lives in Pokolbin, in the Hunter Valley.

Chris had already “built” a kookaburra for the town of Kurri Kurri, though not for the size of the one he has done for Donald.

The Donald kookaburra stands 5.5 metres tall, and took over two years to build. It had been completed and was standing at Chris’s property for the past three months, patiently waiting for someone to pick her up.

A kind member of the community volunteered to go and collect her, and she arrived in Donald on Friday.

By lunchtime Monday, Leigh Nunn Concreting, Matt Godkin MegElec Electrical Contractors, and Donald Steel had the newcomer concreted in place, awaiting stage 2 of the erection procedure – this being the pouring of more concrete into the stump and body of the kookaburra.

Chris Fussell and his brother-in-law, Dom, will be in attendance to assist with this stage.

Donald Community, and beyond, along with Kooka’s and Kooka’s Suppliers, have raised over $50,000 to enable all of this to be achieved – a magnificent effort by all!

While the kookaburra was being erected and standing alone, there were many sightseers and tourists stopping to take photos, proving the attraction to be already working. Stay tuned for further progress.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 18 April 2025.