I’m big on the idea of saving the Big Prawn

WHETHER you love it or hate it, Ballina’s Big Prawn definitely has something going for it. Local developer Chris Condon wants to save it in some form.

It has also grabbed the attention of anational television program, which is calling for it to be saved, while people are busily signing a Facebook petition to keep it. Notbad for a faded old icon that has seen much better days.

Australians have a love affair with ‘big’ things, from prawns and pineapples to bananas and potatoes. I don’t think I will ever forget the sight of the Big Potato at Robertson, on the NSW South Coast.

Driving up the eastern seaboard from Sydney on holidays was always a ‘big’ adventure when we were kids. I loved catching my first glimpse of the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour, as it meant the fun was not far away. There was no Big Prawn back then, but it was another big thing that announced the end of our journey. “I spy with my little eye something that starts with P.” Finally seeing the Big Pineapple in Nambour meant we had arrived.

Today there are hundreds of big thingsin the land of Oz and we must love them, because we keep going to visit them to have our photos taken as keepsakes.

To lose the Big Prawn from Ballina is losing the town’s icon. So many people have had their photo taken in front of it, and it is a well-known landmark for anyone driving up the coast – truckies, bus passengers, hitch-hikers and millions of kids over the years asking mum and dad ‘are we there yet?’

Therefore, I am with Kochie from the Sunrise program, Chris Condon and the rest who love a bit of kitsch and all things big. Save the prawn I say.