John Edward Hatton (born 29 May 1933) is a former

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, and a

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nominated Australian Living Treasure. He was the independent member of the Legislative Assembly of the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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for the seat of

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from 1973 to 1995. Notably, the allegations about police corruption which Hatton raised in Parliament resulted in the

Wood Royal Commission The Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, also known as the Wood Royal Commission, was a royal commission held in the State of New South Wales, Australia between 1995 and 1997. The Royal Commissioner was Justice James ...

. He is currently a social activist in his local community.

Early life and background

Hatton was born in Hammondville,

, the son of Harry and Florence Hatton. He was educated at Hammondville Public School, Hurlstone Agricultural High School and Armidale Teachers' College. Hatton was the

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of the New South Wales Shire of Shoalhaven before his entry into state politics. Hatton was the Foundation President and President for 15 years of the Shoalhaven Combined Progress Associations.

State parliamentary career

Hatton was the member for the New South Wales lower house seat of

between 1973 and 1995. A measure of Hatton's local popularity occurred in the 1976 state election where he polled in excess of 77% of the first preference formal votes. Shortly after becoming elected, Hatton donated a parliamentary pay rise to charity because it had not been granted by an independent body. John Hatton was elected as an independent for this seat for 22 years through the Askin, Lewis, Willis, Wran, Unsworth, Greiner and Fahey governments to 1995. Hatton used parliamentary privilege to expose organised crime in the Griffith mafia, police corruption and malfeasance within government departments and agencies. In 1994, by 46 votes to 45, he forced the minority Fahey Government to establish the

into Police Corruption. This ground-breaking royal commission overcame objections from the Independent Commission Against Corruption, led to widespread reform of the

NSW Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands ( ...

and the establishment of the

Police Integrity Commission The Police Integrity Commission, was a statutory corporation of the New South Wales Government, responsible for the prevention, detection, and investigation of alleged serious misconduct in the Police Force in the state of New South Wales, Au ...

Later life

Hatton continues to advocate for his local community. In 2009 he called for a Royal Commission into property and planning corruption in NSW.

Return to politics

In September 2010, Hatton announced his intention to stand with a team of 21 independents for the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...

at the state election on 26 March 2011. His running mate was small business owner and Community Independent Ian Scandrett who was second on the ticket. Scandrett has since been elected twice to Wingecarribee Shire Council. The grouping of candidates were known as the John Hatton Independents Team. Hatton and his team were unsuccessful at the 2011 election.

Honours received

* Officer of the Order of Australia, General Division, 1999. *

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1989 * Jaycees Australia's Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award, Darwin 1970

Notes

:a. The

City of Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the South Coast, New South Wales, south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes thr ...

was proclaimed in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatton, John 1933 births Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Independent members of the Parliament of New South Wales Officers of the Order of Australia