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Bushy Island
HISTORY
Bushy Island
Bushy island and its neighbours, Tern and Redbill Islands
and Sandpiper Reef, were first mentioned, but not named, by Lieutenant Matthew Flinders,
RN, when he anchored close to the east of them on 14 October 1802 (Flinders,
Matthew A Voyage to Terra Australis London 1814).
The first detailed survey of this small group was carried out in 1879 by Staff Commander E. . Bedwell, RN, in SS Llewellyn and though his survey chart shows the names 'Bush Cay', 'Redbill Isle' and 'Sandpiper Reef ', it does not show a name for today's Tern Island. However it is a fair assumption the latter name arose from that survey while Bush Cay became Bushy Island. The three names other than Bushy are after sea-birds which inhabit the area. Redbill is another name for the Oyster Catcher.
While Bushy Island is a coral cay, Redbill and Tern Islands are continental islands.
Over the years Bushy Island has been a popular tourist attraction and a special lease 7706 was taken over it for ten years from 6 June 1933 by Joseph Vincent (Pidge) Busuttin of the well known Busuttin family of St Bees and Brampton Islands though he did nothing with the island and the lease lapsed (Queensland State Archives Card Index).
From 1963 to 1985 a lease was held by Roylen Cruises of Mackay who built a small shelter shed on it and used it as a day-visit for their cruises. In December 1980 the Pioneer Flight Centre formed by Mackay pilot, Mike Jones, began a seaplane service to the island with an amphibious Cessna 206 (Mackay Mercury 6 December 1980).
In 1985 Roylen sold the lease to Ian Hiley, son of a former State Treasurer of Queensland, T. A. Hiley, who used the island as a private stop-over while cruising the area in his own boat.
The island was declared a national park in 1938.