Lawyers offer help to Mr Shadbolt

Press, 22 October 1983, Page 6

Lawyers offer help to Mr Shadbolt

PA Auckland A former Minister of Justice, Dr Martyn Finlay, with five other Auckland lawyers, have offered their services free to help Waitemata’s new Mayor, Mr Tim Shadbolt, fight any moves to dismiss him. The announcement follows up suggestions that Mr Shadbolt could be forced to wait for up to a month before he i? certain of Waitemata’s top post. Mr Shadbolt said his own lawyer, Mr John Macßae, had warned him that an electoral petition could be filed, seeking to have his election declared invalid and forcing another poll. Defending such a petition would cost Mr Shadbolt up to $30,000 but the six lawyers have offered to fight such a move and other litigation facing him.

The lawyers are Dr Finlay, Ms Sian Ellias, and Messrs Macßae, Rod Hansem, Gary Judd, and Tony Randerson.

“It is a great breakthrough for me. I will still have to raise $2OOO to pay ; court costs but they have volunteered their services free,” Mr Shadbolt said.

Mr Shadbolt, who was due to be officially declared Sor at 4 p.m. yesterday, he did not know who was behind the purported move for an electoral petition.

Any petition must be filed within 21 days of yesterday’s declaration of election results and can be brought about by any 10 Waitemata voters.

So far, talk of ah electoral pietition is just that —

suggestions made in Waitemata which cannot be sourced to any particular person — though the defeated mayor, Mr Tony Covic, has been adamant that he himself would have no part of such a manoeuvre.

However, one source told the “Auckland Star” that a group of 10 electors has come together to bring such an action.

Mr Covic’s writ for $30,000 in damages against Mr Shadbolt for defamation still stands.

The history of the city’s $33,000 Daimler, the most talked about car in New Zealand since Mr Shadbolt said he would hitch his concrete mixer to it, has become rather mottled since its debut in London. Its line of descent shows that since it was sold at a Government Stores Board auction in New Zealand for $9750 three years ago it had changed hands at least three times before it went to Waitemata, the “Auckland Star” reported yesterday.

Mr Shadbolt earlier said that a temporary towbar would be fitted to the gleaming limousine to keep his election pledge — rather than fixing a permanent device — to tow his concrete mixer, “Karl Marx,” through the streets for victore parade. Government records show that the car was brought from Britain after serving with the New Zealand High Commission in London and sold in August, 1980, to a car dealer and motor-racing driver, Mr Ken Smith. . He garaged the limousine for two years before swapping it for two cars from International Cars in Auckland.

According to a car industry source, International then traded it to a Palmerston North dealer, Mr Lew Mangavin, who “dealt it” to Jensen Motors, Auckland, for a Mercedes and cash last January. Jensen Motors had the car on the showroom floor for nine months before selling it to the council last month.