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Pat Fennell
Born1933
Charleville, Queensland, Australia
Occupations
  • Grazier (retired)
  • Real estate agent (retired)
  • Rural advocate
Known forAdvocating for better rural health services for women

Patricia June Fennell OAM (born 1933) is an Australian rural advocate. [1]

Throughout her career, Fennell held many roles with various organisations, particularly those pertaining to rural women's health. [2]

Career

Fennell has served as a member of the Women's Council for Rural and Regional Women, as a board member of the North Queensland Rural Division of General Practice, and as a member of the National Health Council. [3]

She helped establish the Centre for Rural and Remote Health in Mount Isa and is also credited with helping establish a Diploma of Enrolled Nursing Program in Mount Isa. [1] [3]

Fennell has also been active in the agricultural sector. She was the first woman to be elected onto the board of the Cattleman's Union of Australia. [3] She later admitted this was a role she didn't particularly enjoy, stating in 2020: "I didn't stay with them very long, I went down for Melbourne for meetings but it was a different kind of committee then what I wanted to be on... There were a lot of very wealthy and great guys on it but they had a different perspective than where I was coming from, which was a big area and hard to run properties, lots of problems with distance and communications whereas in Melbourne, without being rude, they were fairly spoilt".

Fennell also served as the president of the union's Mount Isa branch, a role she said she enjoyed more because of being able to better relate to the Queensland graziers who she described as "real people". [3] She has also served as president of Mount Isa's Landcare group. [3]

Fennell is credited with establishing the live cattle trade with Indonesia and the Philippines. [4] [5]

Personal life

Born in the South West Queensland town of Charleville in 1933 where she was raised, Fennell moved further north following the end of her first marriage. [5] [6] She had originally married another man when she was 18 but it quickly ended in divorce and she became a single mother aged in her early 20's. [6]

Fennell said the stigma attached to having a broken marriage affected her but was determined to get over it and "make a fresh start". [6] She eloped and married her childhood friend Mark Fennell in a small ceremony in Blackall in 1959 after which they moved to a remote property called "Linda Downs" near the Northern Territory border. [6]

Over a period of 38 years, the couple bought and sold eleven properties before moving to Mount Isa when Fennell was aged 64 where for a time the couple owned the local Ray White Real Estate agency. [7] [3] [8]

Fennell and her husband celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in September 2014. [9]

Fennell's granddaughter Gillian Fennell is a South Australian cattle producer who has served as a director for the Cattle Council of Australia and as a representative of Livestock South Australia. [10]

In 2014, Fennell authored the book, What You Can Do with Twenty Quid. [5] [11]

The Fennell's attempted to retire to the coast when they relocated to Bundaberg in 2016 but they returned to Mount Isa in early 2020 where they have stayed. [12] [7]

Awards

For her service to rural communities and rural women's issues, Fennell was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001. [13]

In 2015, she was named as a Queensland Great. [14]

Fennell was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her service to women's health in rural and remote Queensland. [7] [15]

References

  1. ^ a b Nesbitt, Danika (21 August 2015). "Bush advocate Pat rewarded". Queensland Country Life. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  2. ^ Grant-Campbell, Heather (24 May 2018). "One of the greats". The Senior. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barry, Derek (9 June 2020). "OAM for Mount Isa's Pat Fennell in Queens Birthday Honours". The North West Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Pat Fennell wants people to get involved in their community". The North West Star. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2023. Pat was one of the instigators of the live cattle trade into Indonesia and the Philippines
  5. ^ a b c Tapp, Virginia (1 October 2013). "A life in the bush immortalised". ABC Rural. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Moore, Blythe (7 March 2014). "With love from the outback: Mark and Pat Fennell". ABC Local. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Barker, Eric (8 June 2020). "Pat Fennell receives Order of Australia Medal for her work as remote health advocate and cattle industry". ABC News. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  8. ^ Wisenthal, Stephen (5 January 2005). "Dark days are finally over for Mt Isa". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 June 2023. ...said Pat Fennell, a co-principal at real estate agents Ray White in Mount Isa.
  9. ^ Burns, Chris (29 September 2014). "Trailblazer shares life experiences with book". The North West Star. Retrieved 6 June 2023. Not everybody in Mount Isa celebrates their 80th birthday, 55-year wedding anniversary and a book launch during the one celebration, but that's exactly what Fennell and her husband Mark did
  10. ^ Nason, James (5 October 2022). "Cattle Australia green light removes barriers to representation, says CCA board member". Beef Central. Our family has been involved in the beef industry forever, and granny Pat Fennell had a huge role in getting live exports started out of Queensland...
  11. ^ Fennell, Pat (2013). What You Can Do with Twenty Quid. Kerrall Consulting. ISBN  0646908413.
  12. ^ "After 57 years in the north west, Pat and Mark Fennell have left Mount Isa for a new life on the coast". ABC North West Queensland. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2023. The graziers said Mount Isa seemed like a metropolis when they arrived from Winton in 1959. Pat says she'll miss her friends, but is ready to spend more time with her sisters in Bundaberg.
  13. ^ "Award: 1118941". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 6 June 2023. For service to rural communities and rural women's issues
  14. ^ Moore, Blythe; Cillekens, Emma (1 June 2015). "Mount Isa local Pat Fennell 'honoured' to receive a Queensland Greats Award". ABC Local. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Award: 2006862". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2023. For service to women's health in rural and remote Queensland.

Australian

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