{"id":1253,"date":"2014-07-05T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T06:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/halsteadpress.com.au\/site\/?page_id=1253"},"modified":"2022-05-21T03:39:58","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T13:39:58","slug":"the-monster-that-ate-canberra-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halsteadpress.com.au\/site\/the-monster-that-ate-canberra-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Monster that Ate Canberra"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

The story of Alexander Bunyip<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Alexander is a large, greedy bunyip who likes to eat national landmarks. He\u2019s been eating his way around the iconic features of Canberra, Australia\u2019s capital, since 1972, when he featured in Michael Salmon\u2019s first children\u2019s book, The Monster that Ate Canberra.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been feasting on Canberra\u2019s famous buildings ever since, and in the process become a \u2018figure of national importance\u2019. His adventures have been serialised on radio, he has starred in children\u2019t pantomimes, featured in board games, and his TV career began in 1978 when he was co-host of Arvo on ABC-TV. He\u2019s since starred in Alexander\u2019s Afternoon, The Alexander Bunyip Show, and Alexander Bunyip\u2019s Billabong.<\/p>\n

In 2011 the ACT Government commissioned a big bronze statue of Alexander, which stands outside the Gungahlin Library, a tribute to the greedy, ill-mannered bunyip who has delighted four decades of children, and helped them learn to read.<\/p>\n

As for Alexander, he\u2019s still chomping his way through important buildings, and hoping someone would give him a lamington.<\/p>\n

Alexander Bunyip remains an enduring star in Halstead\u2019s stable.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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