June Patricia "Pat" Eatock (14 December 1937 – 17 March 2015) was an Indigenous Australian activist and academic. In 1972, she became the first Indigenous woman in Australia to stand for federal parliament.

Early years

She was born in Redcliffe to Roderick Eatock, of Aboriginal and English descent, and Scottish migrant Elizabeth Stephenson Anderson. Genealogical research later revealed she had no Aboriginal ancestry but was descended from Richard Rose, the son of a white slave owner in St. Vincent, West Indies and a black slave woman named Harriet. Having left school at the age of fourteen, she moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

at eighteen and married her cousin, Ron Eatock, with whom she had six children.

Career and activism

In 1972 she attended a

land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

conference in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, after which she left her husband and moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. With her baby, Eatock joined the

Aboriginal Tent Embassy The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating ...

in Canberra and participated in the protests against its removal. In 1972 she was the first indigenous woman to stand for federal parliament, running unsuccessfully as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate for

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. She was the first non-matriculated mature-aged student to study at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in 1973, and graduated in 1977 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

. In 1975 Eatock attended the ''Alternative Tribune to the International Women's Year World Conference'' in Mexico City. From 1978 to 1981 she was a project officer in the Aboriginal Unit of the Department of Social Security, and she was also a lecturer at

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

(1991–92, community development) and

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

(1997, Aboriginal studies). From 1992 to 1996 she established and managed Perleeka Aboriginal Television. In 2011, Eatock was the lead litigant in a case against conservative columnist

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

, in which she and others sued Bolt under the

Racial Discrimination Act Racial Discrimination Act may refer to: * Racial Discrimination Act 1975 – an act passed by the Australian Parliament making racial discrimination unlawful * Racial Discrimination Act 1944 – an act passed by the Parliament of Ontario pr ...

(RDA) following a column alleging that fair-skinned indigenous Australians identified as Aboriginals for monetary gain. The court found for Eatock against Bolt, leading to widespread controversy and a campaign to amend the RDA. Following an incident in 2012 Eatock became known as the “holder of the shoe” after then-Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

lost her shoe during a protest at the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.

Personal life

Eatock died in 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eatock, Pat 1937 births 2015 deaths Australian Indigenous rights activists Australian women human rights activists