Aussies Want the Bin Chicken to Be Our 2032 Olympic Mascot

The humble pinnacle of Aussie culture.

Since good ol’ Brissy was announced as host of the 2032 Olympic Games, there’s chatter around which iconic Aussie animal will be the next mascot.

It’ll be a hard act to follow Syd the platypus, Olly the kookaburra and Millie the echidna who made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Games. But we may have the perfect candidate.

Enter: the coveted bin chicken (otherwise known as an ibis). You’d have seen them foraying through scraps in local garbage chutes or trying to steal your chippies—but we love ‘em. And so does the internet.

If this is not the #Brisbane2032 #Olympics mascot we need to revolt pic.twitter.com/fLx6t9zEyq

— Penny Dahl (@Pennycopter) July 21, 2021

Even Queensland’s Tourism Minister, Sterling Hinchcliffe, told the ABC he’s “got a quiet soft touch for the idea that the ibis might play a role”.

The bin chicken may have a competitor, however, as the koala is a front-runner for the position. After the species was recently listed as endangered, many see this as a great opportunity to bring global attention to environmental action.

“We’re at a really critical point in time,” Cameran Costello from the state’s Koala Advisory Council told the ABC.

“It’s an opportunity for us to look at how we can use the momentum of the Olympics to actually get our endangered species back to the right place they should be.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reckons it’s “highly unlikely” the bin chicken will be the 2032 Games mascot, but said “we’ll let the public decide.”

May the best critter win.