John Büsst earned the moniker “The Bingil Bay Bastard”. From his self-built homestead in Bingil Bay, he campaigned from the early 1960s against grazing and agricultural industries seeking to fell the tropical forests of north Queensland.
Then, in his words, “in came the Army” eyeing “the best, most scientifically valuable, and the very loveliest” low-lying forest areas surrounding Mission Beach for army weapons testing. By 1968, after a campaign opposing the tests, nearly 50,000 acres of this land had been protected. Eventually, nearly 100,000 acres would become national park.
