Pat Mackie

Pat Mackie (b. 1914) was a New Zealand miner and unionist, who gained national attention as the leader of the Mt Isa Mines Strike of 1964.

Early Life

Mackie was born in 1914 in New Zealand as Eugene Mruphy. He gained a criminal record in a number of countries under various aliases. Eventually he went to work as a miner for Mount Isa Mines.

Mackie's pseudonym came from a misprint on his payslips when he first began work in the mines, which he attempted to have corrected. However the company kept producing cheques and payslips in the name of "Mackie", and ultimately he adopted the name.

Mt. Isa Mines strike

The dispute which led to the Mt Isa Mines Strike of 1964 involved numerous issues of pay and conditions and lasted an unprecedented 32 weeks.

Mackie was a member of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and became the de facto leader of the strike. While it was AWU policy to resolve the dispute through arbitration before the Industrial Relations Commission, he pursued direct militant action and insisted on an enterprise agrrement with the company. As a consequence the AWU expelled him from the union, which allowed the company to terminate his employment. The dispute was prolonged by the insistence of strikers that he be reinstated, a demand that was never met.

After the dispute, Mackie was banned from Mt Isa Mines, and the government unsuccessfully tried to have him deported to New Zealand.

Media profile

Mackie was the subject of intense media speculation at the time of the dispute, and became an iconic figure in Australia. As he wore a baseball cap of the Boston Red Sox, and spoke with an apparent American accent, he was often portrayed as an "American gangster" and foreign communist. Sometimes he was accused of deliberately weakening Australia to help an invasion by communist China, and his criminal record was constantly mentioned.

Mackie successfully sued a newspaper owned by Australia media mogul Frank Packer in the early 1970s for defamation. He won damages totalling $30,000. A third was awarded for misrepresenting his criminal record, while the remainder was awarded for misrepresenting his involvement in the dispute.

Legacy

Mackie's story inspired a Queensland Music Festival musical production entitled Red Cap which premiered at the Mount Isa Civic Centre on July 11, 2007.

Pat Mackie is currently residing in a retirement home in New South Wales.

References

• Red Cap.
• Mount Isa - The Story of a Dispute by Pat Mackie & Elizabeth Vassilieff, Hudson Publishing. Hawthorn (Vic) 1989.
• Many Ships to Mount Isa - Autobiography by Pat Mackie & Elizabeth Vassilieff Wolf, Seaview Press, Henley Beach (SA) 2002.