Aussie dinosaur arrives in Canberra in time for Australia Day

Cooper, the Australotitan cooperensis, is the latest addition to the National Dinosaur Museum in Gold Creek in Canberra's north, and a homage to the largest dinosaur ever discovered in Australia.

The model stretches 16 metres, weighs 800 kilos and stands just over three metres, representing the dinosaur in its "teenage" years.

But, in real life, the Aussie plant-eating dinosaur in adulthood would grow to be 30-metres long, stand more than six-metres high and weigh up to 18-tonne.

Bones of the original Cooper were discovered west of Eromanga in southeast Queensland in 2006. The dinosaur was named after Cooper Creek and the Cooper Basin where this dinosaur was found.

Cooper was described in 2021 as new genus and species of Titanosauria: Australotitan cooperensis. These dinosaurs would have lived 95 to 98 million years ago.

Museum director Tom Kapitany said the dinosaur model was manufactured in the Philippines. It arrived in Canberra in three parts and on Wednesday was craned into place, the model and its installation costing more than $50,000.

"It was made out of fibreglass mixed with plastic polymer to make it more durable," he said.

Mr Kapitany said the museum wanted visitors to interact with Cooper, placing boulders before him so kids could get a closer look.

"We let people interact with our dinosaurs, climb on our dinosaurs," he said.

"And this part of the garden will be free. We'll landscape here over the coming months. We want a bit of a Flintstones theme with big boulders and rocks"

The museum is celebrating a special milestone this year and will be guided through an array of events by its newly-appointed general manager Carole Arulantu.

"This year is our 30^th birthday and we've very, very excited about it, of course," she said.

"The focus is going to be Australiana."

As well as Cooper the Aussie dinosaur, who is now ready to receive visitors, the museum is planning a special family event on Saturday, April 8.

"They'll be lots of food, fun activities and tours and on the evening of April 8, it will be an adults-only night with wine and cheese and we've not done that before," Ms Arulantu said.

"I think for 23/24 the plan is to create more activities, more events and encourage more families here.

"And we want more tourists, not only locally but nationally and internationally."