In 1964, he was elected to the
Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for Queensland, taking his seat in 1965. He remained a Senator until his retirement in 1983. In 1978, Keeffe ran a petition supporting the wishes of the
Aboriginal people on
Palm Island to retain their Aboriginal council. However the council was sacked by
Joh Bjelke-Petersen's government in July 1978. This followed moves by the Queensland Government to hand over control of Palm Island to Townsville Council. The government ran a counter-petition, which, it was reported, carried forgeries and duplication of names; both petitions contained many of the same people's signatures. ==Later life and death==