Pat O鈥橲hane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, is the Socialist Alliance candidate for the Far North Queensland lower house seat of Leichhardt in the federal election. She announced her candidacy on December 17.
O鈥橲hane鈥檚 career has included being the first female Aboriginal teacher in Queensland, working for eight years at Cairns High. She was the first Aboriginal woman to head a government department and was a university chancellor.
She is perhaps best known as Australia鈥檚 first Aboriginal barrister and magistrate, before retiring from the bench in 2013 to work on a pro bono basis.
O鈥橲hane has been voted one of Australia鈥檚 living treasures by the National Trust. She received a lifetime achievement Deadly Award in 2013. She received a similar National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) award on December 1 for her longstanding advocacy for her community.
O鈥橲hane has criticised the Northern Territory intervention and the incarceration of young people. As a delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention, she said the Constitution 鈥渨as underwritten with the values of power, privilege, elitism, oppression and dispossession, [and] blatantly exclusionary鈥.
When she was leaving the bench she said in an interview that 鈥渓aw is not the same as justice and justice is certainly not the same as law鈥.
O鈥橲hane returned to Cairns in 2019. She explained: 鈥淚鈥檝e a long-term connection to the Far North. My family are here, and my entire First Nations family have lived here for many generations. We鈥檙e the Traditional Owners of the Daintree Rainforest, the world鈥檚 oldest lowland tropical forest.鈥
O鈥橲hane鈥檚 family also has close links to the 鈥渞ed North鈥 鈥 the region鈥檚 history of a strong socialist movement and communist party.
O鈥橲hane said she is running because 鈥渢here has been a dismal failure of the Morrison government to acquit their responsibilities to all Australians. I can鈥檛 sit by and let this inaction go on.
鈥淎s a vocal advocate for climate action, social justice and youth justice, I will hold the government accountable to secure a better future for all of Leichhardt 鈥 not just the big end of town.
鈥淲arren Entsch has been the Liberal National Party member for Leichhardt for 22 years. In all that time he has become very stable 鈥 or at least he says so on his billboards. But, stable does not mean able.
鈥淲e need representatives in our parliament who will work to ensure our most pressing collective concerns are addressed; that climate change, public health, and public education are not sidelined, and integrity and morality in parliamentary conduct and decision making is brought back.鈥
The Far North Queensland branch of the Socialist Alliance launched its federal election campaign in October with Renee Lees, community lawyer, activist and mum, running for the Queensland Senate.
O鈥橲hane鈥檚 candidacy in Leichhardt 鈥 which stretches from the Torres Strait, south through Cape York Peninsula, Cooktown, the Daintree, Mossman, Port Douglas, and Kuranda, to most of Cairns 鈥 is an opportunity to ensure progressive views from regional Australia are known and heard at a national level.
[Get in touch with Socialist Alliance Far North Queensland .]