For the baseball player, see Pat Dodson (baseball).
Patrick Dodson
Dodson in New York City in 2022
Senator for Western Australia
In office 2 May 2016 – 26 January 2024
Preceded by
Joe Bullock
Succeeded by
Varun Ghosh
Special Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart
In office 1 June 2022 – 26 January 2024
Preceded by
(position established)
Succeeded by
(position terminated)
Personal details
Born
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson
(1948-01-29) 29 January 1948 (age 76) Broome, Western Australia, Australia
Political party
Labor
Relations
Mick Dodson (brother)
Alma mater
Corpus Christi College, Melbourne
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian indigenous rights activist and former politician. He was a Senator for Western Australia from 2016 to 2024, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
Dodson is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia.[1][2] He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and a Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In addition to a brief stint as a Roman Catholic priest, he was the winner of the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize and the 2009 John Curtin Medal.[3] He is the brother of Mick Dodson.
On 2 March 2016, Dodson was announced as the replacement for Joe Bullock as a Labor senator for Western Australia, following Bullock's resignation.[4] The Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dodson to the Senate on 2 May 2016.[5] On 28 November 2023, Dodson announced his retirement from the Senate, which took effect on 26 January 2024.[6][7] He was undergoing treatment for cancer at the time of his resignation.[7]
^"Binge drinking and alcoholism are problems across Australia, but more visible in outback towns". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference portrait was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Patrick Lionel Dodson (2009)". Curtin University. 22 January 2009.
^"Pat Dodson to replace retiring WA Labor Senator Joe Bullock". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 March 2016.
^"Pat Dodson elected WA's newest senator". ABC News. 28 April 2016.
^Cite error: The named reference SMHretirement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abDan Jervis-Bardy (26 January 2024). "Federal politics: Senator Pat Dodson hailed as a 'giant' after slipping into retirement". The West Australian.
Katherine in the Northern Territory when Pat was two, to escape Western Australian laws banning race-mix families. The Dodson children were orphaned at the deaths...
nominated by the ALP to fill a casual vacancy caused by the retirement of PatDodson. He is aligned with the Western Australian Right faction. Ghosh was born...
of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is PatDodson, also a noted Aboriginal leader and from 2016 to 2024 a senator in the...
1959 until his death in 1994, Dodson was married to television art director Mary Dodson. In 1966, Andy Griffith hired Dodson for the Howard Sprague role...
Burney gave an Acknowledgement of Country in Wiradjuri. In 2016, Senator PatDodson spoke Yawuru in the Senate, with the Senate President even responding...
deficiencies in the WA Act. After the publication of the report, Senator PatDodson tweeted "The destruction of these ancient sites was a disaster for our...
2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015. "PatDodson elected WA's newest senator". ABC News. 28 April 2016. Archived from the...
the casual vacancy in the Australian Senate caused by the retirement of PatDodson. Former New South Wales police officer Daniel Keneally, the son of former...
President Stephen Parry on 13 April 2016. The casual vacancy was filled by PatDodson on 28 April 2016. Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer announced on...
Sterle Anne Urquhart (teller) Murray Watt Penny Wong 7 Jacinta Collins PatDodson Don Farrell Alex Gallacher Chris Ketter (teller) Helen Polley Deborah...
successor, Dave Sharma, was appointed as her replacement on 30 November 2023. PatDodson, Labor senator for Western Australia, resigned on 26 January 2024. His...
Australia, the 2020 lecture was jointly presented in an online format by PatDodson, Marcia Langton and Bruce Pascoe. In 2022, Torres Strait Islander man...
creation of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) with Yawuru man PatDodson as chair. After the Mabo case, in which the historical fiction of terra...
at least 14 times. 28 November — Labor senator for Western Australia PatDodson announces he plans to retire from federal politics on Australia Day, citing...
Bradford Ralph Bryant Ozzie Canseco Phil Clark Alvin Davis Dick Davis PatDodson Chris Donnels with register name "C.D" Narciso Elvira Chuck Essegian Freddy...
speakers as diverse as Gough Whitlam, Marcia Langton, Malcolm Fraser, PatDodson and Bruce Pascoe. The story of his part in the strike is also told in...
by ARIA winner Hackett Films, and features John Butler, Leah Purcell, PatDodson and Anthony Mundine. Carmody described the 2008 version: "This contemporised...
people controlling their own destiny Formal documentation of the process PatDodson was the first chair of CAR. Several external events influenced the three...
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 American revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Rudy Wurlitzer, and starring James Coburn...
Blanco Poster Competition Winner – Ray Thomas Person of the Year – PatDodson and Mick Dodson (Joint winners) Male Elder of the Year – George Mye Female Elder...
organisation supporting the reconciliation work of Aboriginal leaders PatDodson and Paul Briggs.[citation needed] He is a longtime supporter of the fight...
pastors David Unaipon and Sir Douglas Nicholls, former Catholic priest PatDodson and Jesuit priest Frank Brennan have been high-profile Christians engaged...
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