John Joseph Rhatigan (18 June 1907 – 9 November 1970) was an Australian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1953 to 1968, representing the seat of Kimberley.

Biography

John Rhatigan was born on 18 June 1907 in Turkey Creek (now known as

Warmun Warmun Community (also known as Turkey Creek) and Warmun are a township and locality in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, northeast of Perth, Western Australia. The closest populated town is Hal ...

), a small inland community in Western Australia's

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region. His father was Michael "Mick" Rhatigan, a stockman,

telegraph line Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

sman and police constable, who was involved in the shooting of a group of

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

at Turkey Creek in 1915 known as the

Mistake Creek massacre The Mistake Creek massacre was a massacre of Indigenous Australians that took place in Western Australia in 1915. Massacre On 28 March 1915, between 8 and 32 Gija people were shot and killed, and their bodies burned, at Mistake Creek in the ...

, as well as other killings of Aboriginal people for cattle theft. He died when John was 16. Rhatigan was sent away to be educated, boarding at

Christian Brothers' College, Perth Christian Brothers College (CBC), informally known as CBC Perth or The Terrace was an Independent school for boys situated on St Georges Terrace in the centre of Perth, Western Australia. The college opened in January 1894, and the college was a ...

for two and a half years, returning to the Kimberley after leaving school. He joined the Department of Native Affairs in 1946, having earlier worked as a stockman, linesman, drover, and

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

manager. From 1949, Rhatigan served as the district officer for the entire East Kimberley region, and was based in Broome. He resigned to contest the 1953 Kimberley by-election, which had been caused by the death of the sitting Labor member,

Aubrey Coverley Aubrey Augustus Michael Coverley (29 September 1895 – 19 March 1953) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1924 until his death, representing the seat of Kimberley. H ...

. Rhatigan was successful, becoming the first member for Kimberley born in the region, and went on to hold the seat until his defeat at the 1968 state election. He died on 9 November 1970 in Subiaco.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhatigan, John 1907 births 1970 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian Roman Catholics Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from the Kimberley (Western Australia) People educated at Christian Brothers' College, Perth 20th-century Australian politicians