I used Perplex-ity to generate this, for the LOLz. It did an excellent job, so here it is:

Robert Bast is an Australian-based author and internet figure best known for popularising the idea of a 2012 “doomsday” tied to the end of the Maya Long Count calendar, and for building a large prepper community around it.[en.wikipedia][en.wikipedia][vice]

Who he is

• Robert Bast is a New Zealander who has lived in Melbourne, Australia, and worked in internet marketing.[money.cnn][voanews]
• In the late 1990s he read Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, which mentions the Maya calendar’s 2012 end date and the idea of a cataclysm, and that sparked his long-term focus on 2012.[vice]
• In 2001 he began publishing some of the first online articles specifically framing 2012 as a possible doomsday scenario, helping to seed what later became known as the “2012 phenomenon”.[en.wikipedia][en.wikipedia]

His role in the 2012 doomsday hype

Bast didn’t invent the Maya calendar date (scholars already recognised 21 December 2012 as the end of a 5,125‑year cycle), but he was pivotal in turning it into a survivalist narrative online.[en.wikipedia][en.wikipedia]

• He created and ran Survive2012.com, a website and forum that aggregated disaster theories (solar storms, pandemics, asteroid impacts, pole shifts, etc.) and gave practical advice on how to prepare and survive.[vice][money.cnn][robertbast]
• He wrote the book Survive 2012: A Handbook for Doomsday Preppers, marketed as a guide to where and how to be safe from a “global cataclysm”.[robertbast][amazon.com][bol]
• He also managed a 2012 directory, wiki, and social network, becoming a central node for the global community of “2012ers”, especially those focused on physical preparedness rather than purely spiritual transformation.[vice][robertbast]

Media outlets frequently quoted him in the lead‑up to December 2012, often as a representative voice of the prepper side of the phenomenon.[voanews][robertbast]

What he actually believed would happen

Unlike some 2012 proponents who spoke of mystical awakening or alien contact, Bast’s public stance was more pragmatic and disaster‑oriented:

• He said the most likely scenario was a major solar storm that could cripple power grids and infrastructure, leading to long‑term societal breakdown rather than instant extinction.[voanews]
• He also highlighted other plausible catastrophes (pandemics, asteroid/comet impacts, geomagnetic pole shifts) and argued that some large-scale disaster in our lifetimes was statistically likely, with 2012 serving as a symbolic deadline to motivate preparation.[money.cnn][voanews]
• In interviews close to the date, he acknowledged that nothing specific might happen on 21 December itself, but maintained that the preparations people made would still be useful for future crises.[vice][voanews]

Personal preparations and costs

Bast became a high‑profile example of how far some people went in preparing:

• By 2012, he reported spending over A$350,000 on doomsday preparations.[money.cnn]
• This included:
  • About A$5,000 on food and water stockpiles.
  • Around A$11,000 on equipment like generators, solar power, water purifiers, and gas cookers.
  • Roughly A$330,000 on land, a house, and a bunker about 75 minutes from Melbourne, sited 1,500 feet above sea level to avoid floods/tsunamis.
  • About A$10,000 on a Toyota HiLux to reach the safe site.[money.cnn]
• He funded this through years of saving from his internet marketing job and by taking out a second mortgage.[money.cnn]

After 2012: what happened to him and his views

When 21 December 2012 passed without any apocalypse:

• Bast said he was calmer than expected, partly because in the lead‑up he found himself reassuring others that a specific-day catastrophe was unlikely.[vice]
• He publicly acknowledged he was wrong about a 2012‑specific event, calling it “a good thing” that the world didn’t end.[vice]
• However, he maintained that his broader concern about large-scale disasters remained valid, arguing that the date had simply been a useful excuse to get people to prepare for inevitable future crises.[vice]
• His website and related projects continued in some form, reframed more around general preparedness than a single prophesied date.[vice][robertbast]

Why he matters in the 2012 story

• Historians of the 2012 phenomenon credit Bast with writing some of the first online articles explicitly linking the Maya calendar end date to doomsday scenarios, helping to catalyse the internet-driven hype cycle.[en.wikipedia][en.wikipedia]
• He represents the survivalist/prepper strand of 2012 belief, distinct from the more spiritual or “consciousness shift” narratives promoted by others like José Argüelles.[en.wikipedia][vice]
• His Melbourne base and heavy media presence also made him one of the most visible 2012 figures in the English‑speaking world, especially in Australia.[money.cnn][voanews][robertbast]