Frank William Bulcock (6 June 1892 – 19 January 1973) was an Australian politician. He was a Member of the
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...
.
Early life
Bulcock was born at
Mount Arapiles
Mount Arapiles is a rock formation that rises about above the Wimmera plains in western Victoria, Australia. It is located in Arapiles approximately west of the town of Natimuk and is part of the Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. Arapile ...
, near
Horsham,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
in 1892 to Thomas Bulcock and his wife Eliza Mackay (née Grove).
[ After completing his schooling at local schools he studied ]veterinary science
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
at Sydney Technical College and won a Department of Agriculture bursary to Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm. In 1914 Bulcock moved to Western Queensland and became involved with the Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exer ...
.[Frank William (1892–1973)]
– '' Australian Dictionary of Biography''. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
Politics
In 1919, premier T. J. Ryan
Thomas Joseph Ryan (1 July 1876 – 1 August 1921) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919, as leader of the state Labor Party. He resigned to enter federal politics, sitting in the House of Represe ...
decided to enter federal politics and resigned as the member for Barcoo.[ Bulcock, representing the Labor Party, easily won the by-election][ During this time he was Secretary for Agriculture and Stock from 1932 till 1942 and in 1939 was a delegate on a South African study tour. Bulcock resigned from parliament in 1942 to take up a position with the federal government under Prime Minister, ]John Curtin
John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...
.[
]
Role in the release of the cane toad pest species
In 1935, cane toad
The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania ...
s were brought over from Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, by Assistant Entomologist RW Mungomery, as an attempt to control the native grey-backed cane beetle ('' Dermolepida albohirtum'') and French's beetle ('' Lepidiota frenchi''). This was done despite Mungomery noting that they would not be effective. The retired NSW Government Entomologist Walter Froggatt opposed the toad releases, and successfully lobbied the Australian Department of Health to ban them in November 1935, writing "This giant toad, immune from enemies, omnivorous in its habits, and breeding all year round, may become as great a pest as the rabbit or cactus".
Then Minister for Agriculture and Stock, Bulcock was instrumental in convincing the Queensland premier William Forgan Smith to persuade the Prime Minister Joseph Lyons that the ban on the release of cane toads be overturned. The releases were therefore continued from September 1936, creating an ecological disaster that persists to this day while simultaneously failing to control the target cane beetle species.
Federal Service
Bulcock was appointed as Commonwealth director-general of agriculture. In this position he organized the wartime planning of essential agricultural production and labor requirements. Following his resignation from this position he took up an appointment to the Scarce Commodities Committee which met in Washington, D.C., USA with responsibility for fertilisers, phosphate rock and sulphur.[
]
Personal life
On Christmas Day in 1917, Bulcock married Florence Violet Edwards in Sydney and together had two children. He retired in 1959 but continued to campaign for the Labor Party at election time.
Bulcock died in 1973 at Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses ...
, Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, and was cremated.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulcock, Frank
Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
1892 births
1973 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians