Bluey Bostock

Mervyn Edward Dundee Bostock (1933 - 2008) was the founder and inaugural President of the Australian Bush Poets Association. Blue, to his mates or also Bluey Bostock as he was commonly known, was a unique character and was described by some as a larrikin and a modern day wild colonial boy by others but all agree that he was a legend. Bluey packed a multitude of adventures into his life and some say that he couldn’t have done so many things in one lifetime, but he did. Determination was what Bluey had plenty of and he had a unique, bull at a gate, way of doing things which helped him succeed in many of his endeavours but he wasn’t a man to spend time on details.

Although opinions of Bluey varied he was the type of person that was difficult to forget as he seemed to leave a memorable impression on all who knew him. His carefree disposition was reflected in his endless ability to find and tell jokes for all occasions. Bluey was known to be a bit of a ladies man and according to the ladies he knew his way around a dance floor.

Bluey born 23rd June 1933, to father Charles (1904 - 1977) and mother Marjorie (1909), one of five children, spent his childhood playing in the local creeks and tributaries of the Brisbane river near Ipswich. Bluey and his mates spent their spare time in and on the water with home made boats and rafts. As a teenager Bluey and his brothers were often seen bucking any horses and cattle that they could get their hands on.

Bluey was an orthodox light welterweight boxer of some note, he began as an amateur and after it became difficult to find opponents he had to turn professional in 1953. Although Bluey did not hold any major titles, all those who fought him knew that they had been in one hell of a fight, and the experience was one that few wanted to repeat.

During the sixties Bluey was a member of the Union Singers a Brisbane folk band singing Australian folk songs, peace and protest songs, old and new who won the annual competition of the Federation of Bush Music groups in 1963 and 1965.

Bluey had a love for fishing, he operated prawn trawlers and subsequently he would always have a tinny to take some of his mates out fishing. It was said that on one such trip they were out beyond the islands when the outboard broke down. As the tide was drifting the tinny further out to sea and they had no communication systems or flares onboard, Bluey tied his underpants to an oar then set fire to them and waved them to attract the attention of a passing vessel. However this little adventure cured one of his mates from ever venturing out to the wide blue sea again.

Bluey Bostock being interviewed by a Queensland police officer after Bluey prematurely cut the opening ceremony ribbon for the Albert Street bridge

It is difficult to find one word that adequately described Mervyn Bostock but the term larrikin may come close. The Albert Street Bypass in Brisbane had its official opening on Monday the nineteenth November 1968 and Bluey thought it would be a bit of a lark to cut the ribbon for the opening of the bridge, from the back of a galloping horse right under the nose of the Lord Mayor (alderman Clem Jones). Bluey’s spectacular actions had no political agenda he just thought that Brisbane’s Lord Mayor had hogged too much of the limelight.

As Alderman Jones was about to address several hundred civic dignitaries the sound of clattering hooves attracted everyone’s attention. Bluey the Wynnum rodeo rider wearing khaki jeans, riding boots and a straw cowboy hat, with an antique sabre hanging off his belt, came charging towards the official party on the back of his horse named Boomerang. In full view of the crowd and Clem Jones, Bluey slashed the ribbon on the Albert Street bridge in one stroke, then he headed for Ann Street before the police stopped him.

The police busily wrote their report and according to witnesses Bluey thought if Captain Francis De Groot could slash a ribbon strung across the Sydney Harbour Bridge before premier Jack Lang could cut it in March 1932, then if Sydney could do it, well Brisbane could too. Bluey was heard to say that he always enjoyed that sort of thing, not breaking the law, just sort of bending it a bit.

The proceedings where held up for about an hour before miniskirt clad parking attendants held the ribbon in place until Alderman Jones had finished his speech then the ribbon was re-strung again so that he could cut it with a pair of scissors.

A typical day at the office for Mervyn (Bluey) Bostock

Bluey was always ready to have a go, that's what he thought being an Aussie was all about. His started his rodeo career with bullock rides at local shows then progressing onto bareback riding and steer wrestling. One day at the Warwick rodeo one of Bluey's mates was being gored by a bull and Bluey raced in distracting the bull thereby saving has mate. That day one of the longest and best bull fighting careers was started. Bluey created a profession from being one of the first protection bull fighters in Australia.
Spectators all over Australia thought he was the funniest man to step into an arena. His props and comedy routines are still copied and talked about today. Rodeo riders regarded him as a life saver.

Bluey challenged Pedro a Spanish matador to a bull fight competition Australian style. Pedro may have won on style, but Bluey worked the bulls equally as tight and his agile foot work was difficult to beat. Bluey had a huge place in his heart for children as he would always perform a special act for them at each event. Bluey was a great ambassador for the rodeos, as he promoted, fostered and encouraged the growth of this sport. His last arena performance was at the age of 60 when he was a barrel man at Beenleigh Rodeo.

Mervyn (Bluey) Bostock founder and inaugural President of the Australian Bush Poets Association

Mervyn Bostock was part of a small group of bush poets who contributed to the resurrection of bush poetry in Australia in the early 1990s. Bluey was the founder and inaugural President of the Australian Bush Poets Association. On Saturday the 28th of January 1994, at the Imperial Hotel Tamworth, Bluey invited those present, who wished to be involved, to remain after the bush poetry competition heats. He outlined his vision of the need for a unifying representative association for Bush Poets.

At this inaugural meeting a steering committee was elected to form the Australian Bush Poets Association.

The elections resulted as follows:-
Acting President - Mervyn Bostock
Acting Secretary/Treasurer - Ron Selby
Executive Member - Max Jarrott
Executive Member - Geoffrey Graham
The steering committee then established the Australian Bush Poets Association and applied and constituted the ABPA as an incorporated entity. The results of the elections held after the incorporation of the ABPA were as follows:-

President - Mervyn Bostock . . . . . Secretary/Treasurer - Ron Selby
Vice President - Bob Millar . . . . . . Vice President - Frank Daniel

Publicity Officers:-
Queensland - Robert Raferty . . . . . NSW - Fank Daniel
Victoria - Geoffrey Graham . . . . . . .South Australia - Bob Magor

The ABPA officially started with twenty-two financial members and in the first month this nearly doubled to forty-two.

Billy Hay with Bluey's bus at Winton

Bluey was very keen to run the first Australian Bush Poetry Performance Championships.

He spent some considerable time promoting the ABPA through various media outlets. For example he wrote media releases to be send to radio and newspapers throughout Australia. Bluey was interviewed on the radio programme Queensland All Over by David Anderson and had significant coverage in the Central & Burnett Times, the North Queensland Register and the Courier Mail newspaper which published a half page article written by journalist Lawrie Kavanah in a Saturday edition.

Bluey’s bus trip The Swaggies Walk from Cairns to Brisbane was in itself a narrative that could one day become a novel.

Bluey's vision of a national bush poetry association fostering the growth of bush poetry across Australia was well underway as described in Bluey’s president’s report twelve months after the ABPA’s inception, published 5th May 1995. (See below)

Mervyn (Bluey) Bostock was nominated for the Queenslander of the year award in 1995 for his involvement in charitable work for over 30 years. During that year Bluey was the publicity officer and organiser of the Centenary Celebrations for the one hundredth anniversary of our national song Waltzing Matilda.

Although Bluey Bostock never attended acting school in 1995 he performed in the documentary Waltzing Matilda: The Song That Shaped a Nation. Bluey played himself as the Waltzing Matilda Centenary Promoter.

Mervyn (Bluey) Bostock ran as a candidate in the 1998 state elections in the electorate of Cleveland in Queensland where he lived most of his life in Wynnum. Bluey one of six candidates received nearly twenty percent of the vote. His motivation to stand was his concern about the future of Australia and the future of his children. Prior to this Bluey had been a small business owner most of his life with businesses in service stations, towing, fishing trawlers, motor repairs, second hand furniture, mining, earth moving and used cars.

Bluey formed the Cairns Country Music Club in 1989 which won the Australian Club of the year in 1993.

Bluey was elected as a member of the first official Australian Bush Balladeers Association exceutive committee in January 2000.

Mervyn Edward Dundee (Bluey) Bostock passed on in Brisbane on 29th September 2008 aged 75.