Former South West MLC Muriel Patterson awarded Order of Australia medal for service to parliament

Muriel Patterson, a long-time advocate for the region who spent 12 years in WA parliament’s Upper House, has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal as part of this year’s King’s Birthday Honour’s list. The 91-year-old Ms Patterson said finding out she was being awarded OAM for her service to the WA parliament came as a surprise. “I was a bit dumbfounded to be honest,” she said. “I’ve always worked without looking for kudos, I’ve always just wanted to work hard.” Ms Patterson represented the South West Region as a member of the Liberal party in the Legislative Council from 1989 through to her retirement in 2001. During that time she had stints as the shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs and for consumer affairs, and was government whip for eight years during Richard Court’s time as premier. She said she was adamant she wanted to take on the responsibilities of whip when asked what role she would like in the newly formerly Court Government following the 1993 election. “I told them I’d make a good whip because I’d be stable and I’d learnt how to handle men,” she said. “And I did, in eight years as whip I never lost a vote and sometimes we’d have as many as 20 divisions in an evening.” She said during her time in parliament she particularly liked doing work on committees. “You had to have both sides in a committee and you had to work together,” she said. “I liked it because I was able to discuss things with the opposition without any ill feeling in a constructive manner.” Before her time in parliament, Ms Patterson and her husband Rol farmed virgin land in Tambellup before relocating to Albany so their children had access to schooling. She spent time working in the welfare sector before requests to make a number of “frocks” turned into a role teaching dressmaking for a 10-year period at Albany’s TAFE. Her next move was to fill a gap in the market because there was no craft shop in town. “I said to my husband ‘Albany doesn’t have a craft shop, and I reckon we should have a craft shop’ and he said ‘well, what are going do about it?’” Ms Patterson said. “So I said I’d like to start a shop, so I opened one up.” Boolah Crafts opened in 1976 on Stirling Terrace, before later relocating to York Street. Not long after opening the store, Ms Patterson quickly became a prominent member of Albany’s business community. She became a member of the Albany Chamber of Commerce’s executive board in 1978 and had become its first female president by 1984. A four year-stint on the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council then started in 1984, and she became the first member of its State executive in 1987. Multiple approaches were made to Ms Patterson over a period of “six or eight years” asking her to run for parliament before she ultimately campaigned successfully to become a South West MLC in 1989. “I thought it might spoil my family unit which I valued very much,” Ms Patterson said. “My husband said to me ‘Muriel, we’ve endured everything else so this won’t stop us. “And he was great to back me, but just before the first election he told me ‘now remember, I don’t back losers.” Ms Patterson said entering parliament with a well-rounded background set her up with a good foundation to succeed in politics and that she loved her time in the upper house “from day one”. “I always reckoned that 12 years as a politician is fine, but after that, you become a professional and you could almost be coasting,” she said. “That was just my personal view on it and when I went for my last preselection I indicated I’d like it to be my last, so I gave everyone plenty of warning.” Two decades on from her political retirement, Ms Patterson reflected on her life as she looked over the beach from the front window of the home built by her and her late husband. She said it had been a life well lived that she had enjoyed, but “don’t get me wrong I’ve had plenty of traumas”. And she has remained a staunch advocate for the region. “I’ve travelled quite a bit in my work, but do you know what?” Ms Patterson said. “There is nowhere better anywhere else in the world. “We live in a marvellous place.”