REX PATTERSON: A Voice for the North
Lyndon Megarrity
Australian Biographical Monographs 22
Paperback, 90 pages, $19.95
ISBN 9781922815972
This is the first biography of Rex Patterson, Federal Labor Member for
Dawson in northern Queensland, a seat which he won unexpectedly in 1966
from the Country Party. In some ways his win marked the rise and rise
of Gough Whitlam who a year later became federal Labor leader and
eventually took Labor to victory in December 1972. Rex was a different
sort of Labor member for that time – university educated and interested
in rural and regional issues. He was a good choice by Whitlam in being
made the first Minister for Northern Development. He also served as
Minister for the Northern Territory; for a brief period in 1975,
Patterson’s two portfolios were amalgamated and he became the first
Minister for Northern Australia.
With the Whitlam Government falling apart in the last few months of
1975 with ministerial sackings and resignations, Patterson took over in
the senior portfolio of Agriculture, but it was short-lived. A month
later the Whitlam Government was sacked and lost at the subsequent
December election. Rex lost his seat at that time and never returned to
federal politics. Despite his brief time in office, Rex Patterson left a
mark not just for his policy achievements and ideas, but for his
dexterity and all round decency which this volume highlights so well.
Born and educated in Townsville, Lyndon Megarrity completed his PhD
at the University of New England (2002). He is the author of several
books and articles, many of which focus on the history of Queensland and
Northern Australia.
[ITEMPRICE]