25 Facts About Tom Wyatt

Thomas Allen Wyatt was an Australian horticulturalist.

Tom Wyatt was perhaps best known for his 40-year association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Queensland for which he hosted a weekly program called Gardening Talkback on the ABC Local Radio network.

Tom Wyatt is notable for serving as the sixth curator of the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and for designing Kershaw Gardens.

In 1976, Tom Wyatt obtained additional palm species for the Botanic Gardens which were renowned for holding the largest collection of such species in the southern hemisphere.

That same year, Tom Wyatt investigated the possibility of establishing a tropical fruit arboretum to demonstrate the diversity of tropical fruit which could be grown in Central Queensland.

In exchange, Tom Wyatt helped develop and plant an Australian garden in Ibusuki in 1983 which included constructing a slab hut with Australian timber.

Tom Wyatt served as curator of the Botanic Gardens until 1998 when a restructure at Rockhampton City Council saw his services no longer required.

Tom Wyatt is credited with helping save two chimpanzees called Cassius and Octavius from being euthanised in Tweed Heads in 1986 due to suspected tuberculosis.

Tom Wyatt served as the curator of the Botanic Gardens until he accepted a redundancy package in 2008 following a public scandal surrounding his unauthorised culling of baby Ibis birds, which first came to light when two men working on a Jobs Queensland horticulturist course alleged that council workers had secretly culled at least 87 birds at the Gardens.

Tom Wyatt accused the council of neglect and questioned why the termite activity hadn't been noticed earlier.

At the official reopening, Tom Wyatt was presented with a 1:36 miniature replica of one of the new colourful leaf statues which had been erected at the main entrance to Kershaw Gardens.

Tom Wyatt became a regular guest on local Rockhampton ABC station 4RK in 1982 when the staff discussed the idea of incorporating a 10-minute gardening segment into the local morning program.

In 1999, Tom Wyatt released his book All Your Gardening Questions Answered which was published by CQU Press.

In 2006, Tom Wyatt released The ABC of Gardening which was published by Central Queensland University Press.

In 2011, Tom Wyatt joined a steering committee which was established on the Capricorn Coast to review the controversial amalgamation of Livingstone Shire, Mount Morgan Shire, and Fitzroy Shire with Rockhampton City Council in 2008.

Tom Wyatt indicated that if Livingstone Shire Council was resurrected, he would be keen to run as a councillor with that council.

Tom Wyatt denied that he lived in Parkhurst, but said he did stay at his partner's address on Monday and Tuesday evenings prior to council meetings at City Hall to avoid the 35-minute morning commute from his Kinka Beach property.

Tom Wyatt served as a Livingstone Shire councillor until 2020 when he decided not to stand as a candidate at the local government elections in March 2020.

Tom Wyatt has been a board member of the Talbot Estate, an independent living estate in the suburb of Wandal, since 1976 and has served as president since 2010 - only the third president to serve since the estate was established following Rex Pilbeam and Dr Laurie Georgeson.

Tom Wyatt served as the president of the Rockhampton Rats of Tobruk Association.

Tom Wyatt is known for making a boiled pineapple fruit cake which he has entered into competitions including the annual agricultural shows in Rockhampton and Mount Morgan.

Tom Wyatt traditionally baked a Christmas fruit cake for the staff at ABC Capricornia each year.

In 2006, Tom Wyatt was awarded a Pride of Australia award in the environmental category with the judges praising him for initiating the Greening of Rockhampton initiative and for his role in converting a refuse tip into the acclaimed Kershaw Gardens.

In 2021, Tom Wyatt officially unveiled new signage at the parklands on the Talbot Estate which were named in his honour.

Tom Wyatt's death prompted a number of tributes from the local community.