‘Father of reconciliation’ Pat Dodson to quit politics

Indigenous senator Pat Dodson has quit politics after undergoing treatment for cancer.

In a statement, Dodson said he had informed the Labor Party of his intention to resign as a senator for Western Australia, taking effect on January 26 next year.

Labor senator Pat Dodson has resigned from politics.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Regrettably, my recent treatment for cancer means that my health, although slowly improving, has left me physically unable to fulfil satisfactorily my duties as a senator,” he said.

“I am grateful for the professional and kindly attention of many medical staff over the past few months, and I wish to thank all those people who sent their best wishes during my absence from parliament.”

He thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for appointing him as special envoy for reconciliation and delivered a strong endorsement of his Indigenous colleague senator Jana Stewart - who is widely regarded as a rising star in Victorian Labor - to take over the envoy role from him.

Dodson said he had informed Albanese and WA Premier Roger Cook of his decision.

Albanese praised Dodson as a great Yawuru man and an excellent human being.

“Senator Patrick Dodson’s plan to retire from the Senate fills me with sadness – but also with gratitude,” he said in a statement following Dodson’s announcement.

“You would gladly follow him into battle yet he’s made it his life’s work to make peace. From the moment he entered parliament, he has made this place a better one.”

Albanese said Dodson had spent his life working to advance reconciliation.

“As a boy, he hid in the long grass while the police and welfare officers took his mate,” he said.

“Yet despite what must have been such a traumatic experience as a child, he grew into the father of reconciliation – a figure of grace, dignity and inspiration.”

The prime minister said Dodson had provided many people with the gift of greater perspective.

“It has been my great fortune to be able to count Senator Dodson as a colleague, and my enduring happiness to be able to count him as a friend. On behalf of the Labor family he gained when he became a senator for Western Australia, I wish Pat nothing but the very best as he focuses on his own health.”

Liberal MP Julian Leeser said, “Pat is called ‘the father of reconciliation’ because that is how he lives. We were co-chairs of the joint parliamentary committee on constitutional recognition. During that process, we argued, cajoled, listened and worked to find common ground. I am proud of the work we did together”.

Leeser said Dodson gave him “a richer and deeper appreciation of Australia’s First Peoples - their frustrations, struggles and pains, as well as their hopes for the future”.

“Though I will miss Pat’s presence in the building, I am glad his health is improving. My hope is that Pat will have a long and healthy retirement where he can savour his contribution to our national life and the enduring cause of reconciliation,” he said.

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