Pat Dodson, the towering figure in Indigenous advocacy known as the “father of reconciliation”, is set to leave federal politics. Dodson has cancer and will finish up as a Western Australian Senator on Australia Day, which is “3 days before my 76th birthday, and it’s a Friday – it will be a good day to retire”. PM Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Dodson’s lifelong work for reconciliation, saying “you would gladly follow him into battle, yet he’s made it his life’s work to make peace.” Because of ill-health, Dodson only made one prominent appearance campaigning for a Voice to Parliament when he pleaded with Australians to vote ‘Yes’. On that topic – the referendum’s failure to pass has just been analysed by an Australian National University survey, which found voters knocked it back because of the proposed model – not because they don’t support Indigenous rights.