Two coral reefs off Mission Beach in Far North Queensland now carry the name of John Büsst, the artist and conservationist who campaigned in the 1960s and early 1970s to protect the Great Barrier Reef from coral mining and oil drilling. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (the Reef Authority) announced the naming in a media release on Friday (6 November).

The newly named John Büsst Reefs lie east of Ellison Reef, off the coast of Mission Beach and close to Bingil Bay, where Büsst lived until his death in 1971. The Reef Authority says the name covers two previously unnamed charted features, Unnamed Reef No. 17-060 and Unnamed Reef No. 17-061. The Australian Hydrographic Office charts the two reefs as a single feature, so the name applies to both, which the release says provides consistency between the charted feature and its name and supports navigational clarity and safety.

Following the nomination, the naming was agreed under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Hydrographic Office, the Queensland Department of Resources and the Reef Authority. The release says reef naming processes "are strict and require extensive consultation".

"John Büsst was an integral voice in the early efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef," Reef Authority general manager Caroline Turnour said. "It is only fitting that reefs off the coast of Mission Beach, close to where Büsst lived and worked, will now carry his name and the Reef Authority is incredibly proud to help to facilitate this."

Save the Reef Campaign

Originally from Victoria, Büsst was one of the prominent voices behind the "Save the Reef" campaign, working with poet and author Judith Wright and ecologists Len Webb and Geoff Tracey, according to the Reef Authority. The campaign included more than 4,000 letters sent around the world highlighting the threats facing the Reef, and the release says the broader movement contributed to the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975.

Büsst died on 5 April 1971 while preparing evidence for the Royal Commission into Exploratory and Production Drilling for Petroleum in the Area of the Great Barrier Reef, and did not live to see the marine park established in 1975.

Marine scientist Dr Adam Smith, chief executive of Reef Ecologic, submitted the nomination two years ago, ABC News reported. "This is more than a name on a chart. It recognises a man whose voice helped bring the plight of the Great Barrier Reef to national attention, and the coastline he loved and worked to protect," Dr Smith said in the release.

"He persevered, he built a coalition, he got some good science behind him and he won," he told the ABC.

Ellison Reef

In 1967, Büsst read in the local newspaper that nearby Ellison Reef was the subject of a mining lease to extract its coral lime for fertiliser, The Conversation recounted in a 2024 review of Iain McCalman's biography of him. Much of his campaigning centred on Ellison Reef, the ABC reported.

Acclaimed marine scientist Charlie Veron told the ABC that Büsst, along with the late Judith Wright, was "essential" in championing the reef's protection when academics did not. "But there were very few scientists who were able to speak out about the Great Barrier Reef," Dr Veron said.

The ABC reported that scientists and conservationists are gathering at Ninney Rise, Büsst's old Mission Beach home, this weekend to mark the naming, alongside an expedition to the reefs that now bear his name.