Statement by Administrator John Turner Mid Coast Council
John Turner has been appointed the Administrator of Mid Coast Council, which is a merger of the former Great Lakes Council, Greater Taree City Council and Gloucester Shire Council.
Mr Turner was appointed as the Administrator of the Council by a proclamation of the Governor of NSW on 12 May 2016.
John Turner was a solicitor with practices in the Hunter Valley and Port Stephens area and entered the NSW Parliament in 1988 as the Member for Myall Lakes, representing the area for which he has been appointed the Administrator.
"I have had 23 years representing the mid coast area in the NSW Parliament" said Mr Turner.
"However, I have also had significant involvement in local government. In 1980 I was elected to the Greater Cessnock City Council where I served for seven years, including a period as deputy mayor in 1987.
"In 1988 I was elected to the NSW Parliament and was immediately made Chairman of the Local Government Advisory Committee to the Minister for Local Government.
"In 1993, when the government introduced the current Local Government Act, I was the Chair of the Parliamentary Legislation Committee which reviewed and introduced the current act. During that time, I also undertook a study tour inspecting local government structure in California.
"In 1994 I was the guest speaker on the legislative changes of the NSW Local Government Act at a conference of what was then known as Institute of Municipal Managers in San Diego.
"I also served as Shadow Minister of Local Government during the periods of 1996 and 2005 to 2007" said Mr Turner.
On leaving the NSW Parliament, Mr Turner was asked to Chair the Local Government Acts Taskforce to rewrite the current Local Government Act and presented the taskforce's report to the Minister in 2013.
Recently Mr Turner was a delegate considering a number of council mergers in NSW.
