Patterson was elected as an
Australian Labor Party member for the
House of Representatives seat of
Dawson, Queensland at a by-election in 1966. He was the first Labor member ever to win it. When the
Whitlam government was elected at the
December 1972 election, he was appointed
Minister for Northern Development, responsible for the
Department of Northern Development, charged with "overall policy and co-ordination in the development of all of Australia north of the 26th parallel". In this role, Patterson was concerned with the Australian sugar and beef industries as well as the specialised development and utilisation of land, water and minerals in northern Australia. On 19 October 1973, he was sworn in as
Minister for the Northern Territory by
Queen Elizabeth II, the only occasion when an Australian minister has been sworn in by the Monarch of Australia directly (rather than by the
Governor-General of Australia). On Christmas Day, 1974, the day after
Cyclone Tracy, he flew into
Darwin with Major-General
Alan Stretton and they took responsibility for rebuilding Darwin. In June 1975, Patterson's portfolios were combined and retitled as Minister for Northern Australia. On 14 October 1975, following
Rex Connor's resignation from the
ministry, he became
Minister for Agriculture. He lost this position when the government was
dismissed on 11 November, and lost his seat in the
subsequent election. ==Personal life==