Mr Shadbolt embarrassed

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 14

Mr Shadbolt embarrassed

PA Auckland The Mayor of Waitemata, Mr Tim Shadbolt, says he is embarrassed by a campaign to raise money to pay his lawyers but he needs the money in spite of earning more than $68,000 gross in the last year. A Shadbolt supporter and councillor, Mr Gary Taylor, has opened a fund to raise $40,000 to pay for the Mayor’s defence of a defamation action brought by a former mayor, Mr Tony Covic. Mr Covic was awarded $6500 damages. Mr Shadbolt said he owed $47,000 for his legal bill and a further $lO,OOO was outstanding on his personal overdraft.

“I have never earned so much and I have never been as financially ruined. Life was easier when I was a ' concrete contractor — I had $2OOO in the bank.” Mr Shadbolt was replying to assertions by Cr Ron Manuel that the $40,000 costs should be well within Mr Shadbolt’s capacity to P Mr Shadbolt said he still had to meet the expenses of supporting a family and paying off a $30,000 home mortgage while meeting the cost of living as Mayor which was substantially higher than that of a concrete worker. Cr Taylor said he launched the fund in the hope that the Mayor’s supporters could contribute enough to leave Mr Shadbolt $20,000 to pay. “There is a lot of good will because people realise he fell off the back of a concrete truck into this job.” Mr Shadbolt said other public donations had raised $2OOO of the $6500 he must pay Mr Covic. •