Big Kissing Galahs

That is a more considered piece of thinking than the average oversized animal receives. The galah is usually deployed as a joke – the word doubles as a mild Australian insult, and the bird's reputation is for noisy, slightly ridiculous behaviour. Choosing it instead for its genuine pair bonding and longevity turns the standard reading on its head, and the beak-to-beak pose makes the argument without needing a plaque.

Pink is doing work too. Galahs are among the few Australian birds that are genuinely, unapologetically pink, and a pair of them at the entrance to a new estate is impossible to be solemn about.

Watson is an older north Canberra suburb that has taken substantial infill development, so the welcome is aimed at arrivals into an established place rather than at a greenfield subdivision.

Contemporary Big Things sources continue to identify the galahs on Antill Street, and Australian Traveller includes them in its current national coverage.

As for what it is made from and its proportions – nothing.