The Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Duck

Written by Waning Gibbous

Friday, 17 March 2006

Great controversy surrounds the recent opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. The show’s main storyline - featuring a boy and a duck - was highly criticized as being both farcical and irrelevant. Yet in reality, nothing could be further from the truth: as ducks (and to a lesser extent, geese) have played a pivotal role in the formation of Australia as a sovereign nation.

Commonwealth Duck Boy and duck: Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. In our modern times, certain historical facts are often overlooked, or as in this case, simply fade into obscurity. While few Australians or international TV viewers from around the world seemed to note the relevance of ducks in the Commonwealth games opening ceremony, keen Australian historians would have been particularly impressed by this subtle homage to one of Australia’s most unsung contributors.

"Man cannot posess a better scout than a mallard" - James Cook, November, 1761.

When Captain James Cook landed at Botany Bay in May, 1770, he landed knowing the geography of the surrounding terrain and conditions. For a small “skiff” of elite British Royal Navy reconnaissance ducks had already landed and scouted the area. As was typical of the time, most exploration voyages by the British Empire utilized such squads to identify potential risks for landing party members. Although perhaps just a footnote to a major historical event, the contributions of those ducks should not be overlooked.

By 1860, the usage of ducks by explorers was waning. Nevertheless, when Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills began their expedition of the inland crossing of Australia, they were accompanied by not only camels, but also a small “team” of ducks. With their keen sense of direction and ability to scout ahead by air, they were enlisted to help seek potential water and food resources. Ultimately, the expedition failed, and both Burke and Wills perished, along with 7 other men.

Burke and Will's inland expedition: doomed from the start, despite the ducks.

Perhaps this is why few historical records of the time acknowledge the true fate of that small feathered team. For, unofficially, it was known that during the expedition’s ill-fated final days, the explorers savagely turned on their web-footed assistants. While this event is a particular low-point in Australian history, it does not mean that, in the 21st century, we should seek to shy away and cover up the truth.

All in all, many, both here and abroad, were puzzled, confused and even annoyed by the duck theme of the opening ceremony. Yet not to acknowledge the role of ducks in Australia’s history is perhaps the greatest crime. For little more than bread crumbs and water, hundreds of ducks helped forge Australia as a nation: and for that we should be eternally grateful.

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