Bush Poet • Yarnspinner • Performer • MC • ABPA Magazine Editor
Neil McArthur is an Australian comedy bush poet, yarnspinner and performer known throughout the bush poetry community as The Ratbag of Rhyme. For more than 30 years, Neil has taken his original verse, contemporary Australian characters and unmistakable sense of humour to festivals, country gatherings, caravan parks, pubs and shearing sheds across Australia and beyond.
With roots in Ballarat, Victoria, Neil’s path to bush poetry took him through music, psychiatric nursing and family life in Bargara, Queensland. A guitarist and songwriter from an early age, he spent 13 years working as a psychiatric nurse before discovering Australian bush verse through the Bundaberg writing community and the guidance of his friend and fellow writer Charlee Marshall.
This page brings Neil’s story, poetry, performances and Country Campfire appearances together in one permanent home. As more of his work is shared, it will be added here rather than disappearing into the fast-moving social media feed.
More Than Thirty Years Of Rhyme, Yarns And Laughter
Neil describes himself as someone who was born with words in his head. Music came first, particularly folk and rock, followed by guitar, songwriting and time playing in bands across genres ranging from punk rock and heavy metal to jazz and country rock.
After moving from Ballarat to Bargara to raise his family, Neil came across the local writers’ community and discovered Australian bush poetry. He was particularly drawn to performance poetry—the chance to bring a yarn, a character and a roomful of people together through rhyme, timing and storytelling.
Comedy became his calling card, but it has never been the full extent of his writing. Alongside the outrageous characters and unlikely disasters are serious, romantic and dramatic pieces, shaped by a deep appreciation for the traditional poets who carried Australian stories long before him.
Neil has also written candidly about living with bipolar disorder and the way performing and creativity have remained important parts of his life. Through changing seasons, personal loss and years on the road, the poetry has continued—supported by his wife Colleen, their family and the many friendships formed around stages, festivals and campfires.
The Ratbag Takes To The Road
Neil has performed around Australia and offshore for more than three decades. His travels have taken him from major festival stages to some of the smallest and most distinctively Australian venues imaginable.
He has appeared at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Gympie Music Muster, the Mildura Country Music Festival, Oracles of the Bush and gatherings throughout regional Australia. He has entertained audiences in caravan parks and country pubs, performed in remote outback shearing sheds and joined other leading poets for tours and festival shows.
For more than a decade, Neil has hosted the famous Longyard Bush Poets Breakfasts during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. The long-running shows bring together comedy poets, musicians and yarnspinners for a different performance each morning, with Neil assembling and leading the line-up.
Neil’s work has also travelled in the voices of other performers. His poems are regularly recited by fellow poets, helping characters and yarns such as Shopping Trolley Rage, The Most Popular Bloke In The Pub and The Heartbeat Of Australia reach audiences well beyond his own performances.
Award-Winning Original Verse
Neil was among the competitors at the 1999 Australian Bush Poetry Championships held at the Yarrawonga–Mulwala Murray Muster, where he placed first in the Men’s Original Verse section.
Although competition formed part of his early performance journey, Neil’s lasting contribution has been his ability to connect traditional rhyme and metre with recognisable contemporary Australian life. His poems find their characters in pubs, shopping centres, race meetings, family gatherings and the everyday predicaments of ordinary Australians.
Keeping The Bush Poetry Community Connected
Neil’s contribution extends well beyond his own writing and performances. He was listed as editor of the Australian Bush Poets Association Magazine by 2013 and continues in that role in 2026.
Published every two months, the magazine keeps writers, performers and supporters connected through poetry, festival reports, competition results, association news and recognition of the people helping carry the tradition forward. Neil’s long service as editor has made him one of the people working quietly behind the scenes to preserve a record of contemporary Australian bush poetry.
Tragic Tales From The Thong Factory
Neil’s poetry collection, Tragic Tales From The Thong Factory: The Poetry Works Of The Ratbag Of Rhyme, brings together the breadth of his writing.
The first recorded edition was published in 1998 and illustrated by Peter Gray. The expanded collection supplied to Country Campfire is described by Neil as an almost complete gathering of his rhyming poetic works, including pieces written primarily for live performance.
The collection moves from comedy and larger-than-life yarns to family, loss, Australian identity and more reflective verse. Among its many titles are The Most Popular Bloke In The Pub, Shopping Trolley Rage, The Colt From Old Regret, The Heartbeat Of Australia, My Son, The Gate and the title poem, Trouble At The Thong Factory.
View the original edition of Tragic Tales From The Thong Factory on Google Books.
Follow Neil McArthur
Neil McArthur On Country Campfire
The following poems and performances featuring Neil McArthur have been shared on Country Campfire:
Law of the Land
A wildly funny bush yarn about a father’s hard lesson going spectacularly wrong while his son and horse look on.
Rights And Permission
Poems and contributions are shared by Country Campfire with permission.
Poems, recitals, photographs, stories and original works remain the property of their original creator and are shared by Country Campfire with permission.
Country Campfire Legend #14