After many glorious decades of confusing tourists and embarrassing locals, Robertson’s Big Potato is now facing an uncertain future. Will anyone save our spud?
Australia’s curious tradition of building Big Things shaped like smaller things has left our landscape littered with some truly iconic landmarks. The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour is perhaps the best known, but you can pretty much drive through almost any regional town and find some form of Big Thing worth snapping a selfie with. The Big Prawn in Ballina. The Big Pineapple in Woombye. The Big Tractor in Carnamah. You get the idea.
But it seems that some Big Things are not as revered as others. It’s unlikely anyone is going to dig Victoria’s Big Shovel, while NSW’s Big Oyster – once the pearl of Taree – is now forced to moonlight as the second storey of a used car dealership.
Then there’s the Big Potato in Robertson, NSW – quite possibly the ugliest of all Big Things. So ugly, in fact, that it once won the title of ‘Australia’s Sh*ttest Big Thing’.
In 2025, perhaps because they could no longer bear looking at it, the townspeople turned it into a pink pig, to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of the film Babe, which was filmed in Robertson. Did this make it any less of an eyesore? No, but at least it didn’t look like a turd anymore.
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Why is the Big Potato in danger?
Now the Big Potato (or Pig Potato) has become a bit of a hot potato. The local shire council has dug in its heels over a proposal to move the monument to a new, as yet unspecified location to make way for a major supermarket redevelopment, turning down the plans. Sadly, this wasn’t rooted in any kind of potato-related loyalty (it was more to do with traffic and parking), but the man behind the plan has decided to a-peel the decision, and is taking his case to the NSW Land and Environment Court.
Will the Big Potato live to blight another day? Townsfolk have chipped in with an idea to move it to a park in the centre of town, but this, too, will require council approval. However, we’re confident that the details will be hashed out soon. Because when the chips are down, we Aussies will always stand proudly behind our Big Things, no matter how hideous they might be. And honestly? You’re beautiful just the way you are, Big Potato.
That’ll do, spud. That’ll do.
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