Hilary Talbot

John Howard puppets, 2003

Two versions of John Howard.

1. An impromptu rendering of John Howard made for the rally against the Iraq War, Canberra, March 23, 2003 (also World Puppetry Day)

2. John Howard as a scarecrow won the 'most popular scarecrow' award in the ACTEW AGL Scarecrow Competition 2003 in Floriade, Australia’s Celebration of Spring. More than one million bulbs and annuals are planted throughout Canberra’s Commonwealth Park for Floriade, and the scarecrows are on display in the park for a month. This year Floriade attracted 300,000 visitors.

The scarecrow was a lead story on the front page of the Canberra Times, on 15.9.03: "It may keep the birds away, but onlookers flocked to see the John Howard inspired scarecrow which kept the crowds amused at Floriade yesterday."

"The John Howard lookalike scarecrow provided a talking point as well as one of the most photographed attractions as visitors stood alongside him to capure their picture with him."

On Sept 17th the Canberra Times also ran a story about television chef Iain "Huey" Hewitson filming segments of his cooking show at Floriade. In his comments about Floriade he said:

"I think its just great. The scarecrow display is amazing, there's even a John Howard one. He's a bit too good-looking and a bit too tall, but apart from that its a brilliant likeness."