Jeannette Tweeddale Patrick (née Breen; 2 November 1929 – 24 May 2011) was an Australian politician. She was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

from 1976 to 1985. Patrick was born in Brighton, the daughter of solicitor Robert Breen and future Senator Dame

Marie Breen Dame Marie Freda Breen (; 3 November 1902 – 17 June 1993) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1962 to 1968, representing the Liberal Party. Early life Marie Freda Chamberlin was born in St Kilda, Victori ...

. She studied at Firbank Girls' Grammar School, and after short stints as a kindergarten teacher and dental nurse, undertook the article clerks' course at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria on 3 April 1967. She worked as a solicitor in her family firm of R. T. Breen & Company from that point on. She was a City of Brighton councillor from 1973 to 1976, a member of the Consumer Affairs Council from 1974 to 1975, and was honorary solicitor to a number of local organisations. Patrick was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 1976 state election, having defeated

Peter Reith Peter Keaston Reith (15 July 1950 – 8 November 2022) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and from 1984 to 2001, representing the Liberal Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 199 ...

and

Alan Dixon Alan John Dixon (July 7, 1927 – July 6, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the Illinois General Assembly from 1951 to 1971, as the Illinois Treasurer from 1971 to 1977, as the Illinois Secretary of ...

, among others, for preselection in the safe Liberal seat. Only the fifth woman to enter the Legislative Assembly, and the only one serving for her first eighteen months, she entered a parliament where there was no female toilets in the legislative wing. In 1977, she was involved in the research, drafting and passage of the Equal Opportunity Act, which she would later tout as her greatest accomplishment in parliament. She was a member of the Public Accounts Committee in her first term and was promoted to secretary to the parliamentary Liberal party in 1979, the first Liberal woman to hold such a position. In 1980, she chaired a government inquiry into the possibility of abortion law reform in Victoria. The Liberal Party lost the 1982 election; afterwards she was promoted to Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs and Shadow Minister for Local Government. Her husband was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in 1984, and she retired at the 1985 state election. Patrick died in Brighton on 24 May 2011 following a series of strokes. Her daughter, Jane Patrick, has been a judge of the

County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and civ ...

since 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, Jeannette Tweeddale 1929 births 2011 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Brighton, Victoria People educated at Firbank Girls' Grammar School Politicians from Melbourne