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Indigenous senator Pat Dodson has quit politics after undergoing treatment for cancer.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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Labor senator Pat Dodson has resigned from politics.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cRegrettably, 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Dodson said he had informed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and WA Premier Roger Cook of his decision.<\/p>\n Albanese praised as Dodson a great Uawuru man and an excellent human being.<\/p>\n \u201cSenator Patrick Dodson\u2019s plan to retire from the Senate fills me with sadness – but also with gratitude,\u201d he said in a statement following Dodson\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would gladly follow him into battle yet he\u2019s made it his life\u2019s work to make peace. From the moment he entered Parliament, he has made this place a better one.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese said Dodson had spent his life working to advance reconciliation.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a boy, he hid in the long grass while the police and welfare officers took his mate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYet 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The prime minister said Dodson had provided many people with the gift of greater perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n