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John Bolton, Barrister, Solicitor, Mediator, Professionally Conservative, Politically Independent:
This site written and authorised by me John Bolton, 12 Union Street Gawler [email protected]
My C.V. is University of Adelaide. L.L.B. . B.A. . G.C.L.P.. Admitted to Practice at the Bar, SA Supreme Court and Australian High Court. Public Notary. Practising Legal Practitioner for 20 years.
Police Prosecution and service for 16 plus years State of SA Crown Solicitor’s Office, Attorney Generals Department. Prosecuting Serious Matters, Death and Work Injuries and Native Title and Heritage Matters. Experienced in Planning Law, Development Law, Local Government Law Private Practice for 15 years plus as sole partner. Notable achievements – Solicitor in the High Court Counsel in the Federal Court Native Title matters Counsel for the SA commercial fishing industry in Native Title Matters. Experienced Practitioner in most of the S.A. and Federal Jurisdictions. Conduct of General Practice, In-house Counsel with employment, management and supervision of a team of 9 staff including employed solicitors in Civil, Youth Justice, Children’s, Administrative Appeals, Family, Mining, Coroners, Discrimination, Motor Accidents, Criminal Prosecution and Defence and General matters Membership of the SA Law Society. Accredited Mediator - Alternative Dispute Resolution Past President of Gawler Rotary Club. And only the second person since 1954 to hold the position twice. Cub Scout Leader and district Cub Scout Leader for 6 years. Committee Member, Sponsor and Board Member of multiple and various sporting clubs and school boards, including the Gawler Soccer Club when it first created the Gawler Women’s Soccer team. |
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Experienced in Planning Law, Development Law, Local Government Law University of Adelaide. L.L.B. . B.A. . G.C.L.P.. Admitted to Practise in the SA Supreme Court and Australian High Court. Public Notary. Practising Legal Practitioner for 20 years. Police Prosecution and service for 16 years. State of SA Crown Solicitor's Office, Attorney Generals Department. Prosecuting Serious Matters, Work Injuries and Native Title and Heritage Matters. Of all the candidates for Gawler Mayor I am the best qualified. That is the simple truth.
I can read the demographics and the surveys. I could say what people want to hear. I know how to do that. I am a professional advocate, a Barrister , Solicitor, Public Notary, Accredited alternative dispute lawyer and mediator. I am both qualified and very experienced in working out what people want to hear and feeding it back to them. As I come to this election I need to decide. Do I do that? Say what you want to hear. Or do I say what I believe is right. I am a conservative. Not a socialist. This means I believe in small government and lower rates. It is a major concern that Council just keeps projecting rate rises. No ordinary household decides to live beyond its means. No one can keep spending more than they earn. As Mayor I will, within the first six months, review all of Gawler Council’s expenditure of rate payers money. Is the expense necessary or not? Are we spending too much on it or not? Is it just a nice to do? For too long we have inherited the Adrian Shackley neo-communist legacy of spending money on socialist ideas which has resulted in never ending raising of rates and a Twenty Million Dollar debt. Every rate payer has to spend less than they earn. We know how to budget. Council must learn to spend less than it earns. It is time to bring a conservative approach to Council expenditure and to keep rates as low as they can be. For instance: It is completely unrealistic to think that Gawler rate payers can ever spend enough money to change the global climate? It cannot happen and we should not waste our money on it. That’s what I stand for. That’s my platform. Conservative rate reform. I don’t want Gawler to end up a satellite suburb in some giant supercouncil headquartered in Kapunda or Nuriootpa or Elizabeth. The Premier is flagging Council amalgamations. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. If we want Gawler to retain it’s identity we have to stand up for it. That is a reason why ten years ago in 2012 I launched the plan for Greater Gawler. I presented my 32 page document, based on my legal background in the field of planning and local government laws and communities of interest I proposed that Hewett and the part of Concordia set for urban development be received into Gawler. I presented this boundary reform in 2012 to Gawler Council, which lead by Shackley and followed by Redman, did not support the idea. Now in 2022 what I called Greater Gawler 2013 is funded to the next stage. I would like to lead Gawler Council through that process and I have the professional skills to do it. Councils are by design a co-operation between professional employed staff and members of the community. Often just Mums and Dads. I bring an extra level of professionalism to the elected Council Chamber. I am a Barrister, Solicitor, Public Notary, and accredited mediator. And for nearly 20 years before that in the SA Police Force. It is simply true that of all the candidates for Gawler Mayor I am the best qualified. I am the underdog in this election but I can add the level of professional leadership that is going to be required to assist the bureaucrats to steer Gawler to the leading centre that it must become while retaining its historic history as the State's first ever surveyed country town as well as looking after the special places that the descendants of our first peoples hold dear. I am recognised as an Arraru, or north wind moity, of the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges and I have recognised Aboriginal children and grandchildren, even one named in my family's honour so I both know and care deeply about these things. But I am also done with being welcomed to my country. This is my country and I need no one to welcome me to it. When do we stop the nonsense that people who look just as white as me can claim to be black when the majority of their genome is obviously not. I found education later in life going to university at age 35 after nearly twenty years in the Police Force and have ended up with quite a few degrees and professional qualifications which I won’t bore you with here. It is time to bring some main stream centre moderate liberalism back in to our local government. I have had enough of being told what to do by extremists. Extremists who claim everything is a crisis or emergency. Extremists who want us, the ratepayers, to fund their ideologies. Extremists who simply cause increases of our rates. Our Council should aim to reduce rates, get back to core council business. It’s time for local government look after ordinary Mums and Dads, ratepayers and local businesses. Do you really like our Council being nearly 20 Million Dollars in debt? ($17,286,256.00) Are you really OK with a rate rise of 2.75% every year for the next years. Are you OK with this not even including rubbish collection which you pay extra for. $20,000 spent so far on Council’s “Climate Emergency Plan” with more to follow. Do you really think that anything Gawler does is going to make a jot of difference? I say it is time to stop funding some of these “nice to do’s”. It’s time to think about how much they cost ratepayers. It is not OK for Council to keep on spending our money until they run out and then borrow more. This is the third time that I have stood for Mayor. First I lost to Brian Sambell by 275 votes out of 4788. Then I lost to Mayor Redmond. I did not stand last time around. I was in Queensland looking after my elderly parents. I have, over the last few years, had my fair share of family tragedy. My older brother hung himself. My wife of 38 years died of cancer, both my parents died recently and these things slowed me down. But I am back. I have lived in Gawler for nearly Forty years, Gawler Belt, Kalbeeba, Concordia and Gawler town centre. My children were born and raised here in this, their home town. I have been on the boards and committees of numerous sporting clubs, schools and service clubs and I have regularly chaired meetings and committees. I have a professional set of skills. And by the way the election is on my birthday 10th November. |