There has been a changing of the guard for Canberra's cuddliest police officer.
For 15 years Stewart Waters has been the voice and handler of police puppet mascot Constable Kenny Koala, but his retirement means it is time to hand the reins to colleague David Packwood.
Kenny Koala has been fronting up to Canberra primary schools to teach kids about safety issues for four decades.
He even had his own weekly half-hour television program in the 1980s, where he dispensed safety advice, led tours around police stations, and sometimes even commented on car crash scenes.
Mr Waters was the puppet's longest-serving handler.
"It's been absolutely magic to work with Kenny," he said.
"I believe in Kenny, you have to work with him. People say that's a bit weird but if you don't believe in him you can't push that belief through the children.
"You walk into a classroom and within five minutes the children are directing their questions to Kenny.
"To see the delight on children's faces, the magic just builds up inside them."
The new voice of Kenny Koala said he is aware he has big shoes to fill.
"It's an absolute honour to follow in Stewart's footsteps," Mr Packwood said.
"Fifteen years dedicated to educating kids about safety messages, it doesn't get better than that."
Kenny Koala first appeared on Canberra television in September 1975 as a guest on a show called Junior Police 7.
So great was his popularity that by 1982 the program was renamed Constable Kenny on Duty, which saw Kenny Koala interviewing people around town and promoting safety messages, it ran for five years.
The first puppet was made out of a bath mat by the then commissioner's secretary, although the design was later modernised when Kenny Koala was mistaken for a rabbit.
Kenny Koala was relaunched as a cartoon-type character in 2013, when his website was also launched.
Despite the handler handover, the program will remain the same, with Kenny Koala continuing to appear each day at schools across the ACT.
