Christmas Eve heartbreak as Peter Blundell dies just months after diagnosis

‘He’d always find time for you’: Peter Blundell is being remembered as an incredible man who left a lasting impression on everyone he met.

Hearts are breaking after Peter Blundell lost his cancer battle just three months on from marrying his beloved Charlie Rasmussen.

The popular Central Queensland identity and brother of Australian country music legend James Blundell passed away in the early hours of Friday, aged 59.

He is survived by Charlie and his three children - Peter, Harry and Nicola.

Peter lived on Great Keppel Island. He worked for the Great Keppel Island Hideaway and with Keppel Konnections, and his death has rocked their tight-knit “ family”.

Peter Blundell lost his battle with cancer on Friday.

GKI Hideaway manager Kelly Harris said Peter meant so much to so many and would be sorely missed but fondly remembered.

“Everyone loved him,” Kelly said.

“He was the sort of character you’d have a conversation with and felt like you knew him really well. You’d trust him with anything.

“It didn’t matter how busy he was - and he worked very hard - he’d always find time for you.”

Kelly said Peter received his cancer diagnosis just a month after marrying Charlie in September.

The couple met locally and hit it off straight away.

Kelly said while they did not have a very long courtship, Peter and Charlie were “so close from day one” it was clear they were destined to be together.

Charlie is from Gladstone and the couple married in Calliope and had their honeymoon on Great Keppel.

Kelly said he could not believe it when Peter got the cancer diagnosis.

“Only a small number of us knew how bad it was but even with us, I think he downplayed it a lot,” he said.

Charlie Rasmussen and Peter Blundell hit it off immediately.

“He obviously knew he was in for a hell of a battle and one that might not be winnable but the way he went about it just typified him pretty much.

“It was admirable how he approached it with such strength and such a positive attitude.”

Kelly first met Peter when he visited the island when running for the state seat of Keppel in 2017.

He made an immediate impression on Kelly.

“He didn’t win the election so obviously was looking for a job. He approached me and we didn’t have anything at the time but we realised Pete’s the sort of person every business needs in their organisation so we created a role for him.

“He started in 2018. While his official role was workplace health and safety officer, he was also our whale watching guide and organised school groups.

“He had so many skills, he’d just help out wherever he could.

“He was very much a father figure to the younger staff, a mentor to many of them and a very good friend to the rest of them.”

Peter was the driving force behind Country on Keppel, the country music festival on the island which started in 2019.

Kelly said it was one of the projects he most enjoyed and it became something of a family affair.

James was the headline act and his son Briar also played there, while Peter’s two sons were big supporters of the event.

Kelly said Peter, a former mayor and councillor of the Southern Downs Regional Council, was incredibly community-minded.

“He just loved the community and wanted to help people,” he said.

“Whilst his life was too short, he died doing a job he loved, on an island he loved, working with people he loved and married to the woman he loved.”