Bakker burns Midnight Oil for Burra children’s charity

Bakker is a Melbourne diamond jeweller, along with being a long-time rally competitor and Midnight Oil music fan. He has combined his passions in a unique way to commemorate his special relationship.

The South Australian township was put on the map when an abandoned stone cottage on the outskirts of town was used on the cover of Midnight Oil’s ‘Diesel and Dust’ album in the 1980s.

After Bakker fell in love with the area and the Rally of the Heartland when he competed here in 2019, he was keen to put something back into the community, and in particular, to the youth of Burra.

Discussions with rally director, Ivar Stanelis, followed, afterwhich he set about crafting a one-of-a-kind diamond encrusted jewellery piece featuring the famous house.

Many hours of work followed, with Bakker performing his magic to produce an incredible piece that was presented to local Mayor, Bill Gebhardt, in the lead-up to the 2023 rally.

Featuring an orange champagne coloured diamond from the famous Argyle Diamond Mine in the remote East Kimberly of Western Australia, the piece has been independently valued in the tens of thousands of dollars.

It will be put to auction in the coming weeks, with proceeds going to the Burra youth, a cause dear to Bakker’s heart.

World rally commentator, Colin Clark, claims that Bakker’s generosity is the greatest such act in the 20 years he has been involved in rallying.

A second, similar, piece has also been made by Bakker, which will be on permanent loan and be displayed in the local museum.

Bakker will start this weekend’s Rally of the Heartland on Friday afternoon with co-driver Kim O’Halloran in a magnificently prepared Datsun 1600.