Patrick Heatley

Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2010.

Patrick (Paddy) Heatley started driving trucks at the age of 17 working for Hugh Hannan and Len Anderson in Finley New South Wales. Carting grain, hay and livestock around New South Wales and Victoria.
In the late sixties Paddy moved to Canarvon in Western Australia where he purchased his first truck and worked for Cecil Radly carting fruit and vegetables to Gascoyne Traders. He also carted fuel and water to Cape Cuvier and Texarda salt mines. In 1970 Paddy moved to Wyndham carting machinery for Tropical Road Constructions.
In 1971 Paddy moved to the Northern Territory and purchased a cattle truck and was contracted to cart cattle and buffalo to Angliss meat works until they closed down.  In doing this he became the first person to cart bulls out of Port Keats. He went on to cart hundreds of tons of railway line to various stations around the top end after the railway shut down and also carted a lot of steel and cement to the Victoria River bridge site at Wave Hill. In the mid 1970s Paddy carted hay to the flood damaged Daly River area. In 1975 Paddy started carting buffalo from Walgait Reserve to Jimmy's Creek meat works, cutting across the 47 mile Marrakai Plains, across the now Arnham Highway and across Hardy's Plain. He was the first person to take a road train to Walgait Reserve. He also carted pigs and cattle to both the Katherine and Menelling meat works.
In 1979 Paddy had two water carts on the Peterman Road where he drove one himself as the sealing of the first 57 kilometres took place. He went on to cart cattle and feral buffalo to Mudginberri meat works which eventually closed down. Over the years Paddy has put in thousands of hours carting with terrible road conditions.