Three Coultons closing the book on a life in leadership

Gwydir Shire mayor John Coulton, his brother, Federal member for Parkes Mark Coulton, and their cousin, Gwydir Shire councillor Dave Coulton, stand at the brink of retirement from political life.

John and David will leave Gwydir Shire Council with today’s local government elections, and Mark will retire when the next Federal election is called sometime between now and May next year. Collectively, they’ve held leadership positions for over four decades. 

“Anyone that goes into local government or federal politics because they think there’s some power or kudos attached to it, ends up being bitterly disappointed,” Mark said.

“That’s the best way to describe it,” John agreed. 

“It’s humbling. It’s been terribly humbling, all the way. And you’ve got to have humility to be a good leader.”

“It’s been a total privilege do what I’ve done for the last eight years,” David added.

Apex made the difference

Raised on a property at Gravesend and educated at Farrer, the brothers each pursued public life, beginning with being involved in local show societies, clubs, and associations. They say the opportunities afforded by Apex were instrumental in all their lives and gave them a window into a wider world. David was a member of the Tamworth branch, and with John and Mark are life members at Warialda.

Working intensively on the land is often isolating, so when the time came for an Apex meeting, John said they were eager to go.

“They were really good outlets for us. And also stimulating – mentally stimulating. I attribute a lot of what I’m doing now to Apex – we ran a very strict meeting procedure in our club, and public speaking was compulsory, and we did all that and I think it was wonderful,” John said.

Through Apex, the brothers both participated in a Rotary group study exchange, which significantly influenced Mark’s direction in public life.

“My group study exchange in 1990 to Florida, that was the turning point for me. When I came home, I’d seen a different world,” Mark said. 

“A lot of people that would come to town, you’d rope them into Apex, they’d get to have a group of friends pretty quickly, but it gave you a group of people that were different to you. That’s what made it really good.”

Off to Canberra

Mark came into leadership before John and David when he watched as the former Yallaroi, Bingara, and northern portion of the former Barraba Shire amalgamated to become the Gwydir Shire in 2003. He thoroughly enjoyed working with the large team at council and the shire community, but when former Nationals Leader and Parkes MP John Anderson told Mark that he was thinking to retire at the 2007 election, so he spoke to his wife, Robyn.

“It was three words she hates: ‘I’ve been thinking.’ It scares the crap out of her. I said, I think I’d like to have a go at that in 2007.”

And they did. Robyn stepped away from teaching and started working on the farm and supporting Mark’s campaign, which proved successful, and he was elected Member for Parkes in 2007. 

Though Mark had only been to Canberra once before assuming office, he had to reset his perspective when he landed in the midst of big political figures.

“So I turned up the same day as Scott Morrison, and Bill Shorten, and Greg Combet. People I’d only ever seen on TV,” he said.

“I had to pinch myself, but I wasn’t just watching this; that I was part of it. That I had as much right to be there as Bill Shorten or someone like that.” 

Along with his wife Robyn, Mark would spend 150 nights a year in motels across the electorate, meeting constituents, 19-20 weeks annually in Canberra. Mark has also served in multiple capacities as Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip for the Nationals (which he currently holds) twice, and held positions as Shadow Secretary, Assistant Minster and Minister across a range of portfolios, adding to the workload.   

“People think the National Party is my boss,” Mark said.

“That there’s somewhere, there’s a dark, smoky room where there’s people with the power that tell me what to do and say, which is rubbish.”

“The reason there’s a party is that it’s such a big job. You have to divide your labour and you specialise.” 

Getting it done for the right reasons

For John, getting elected to Council in 2009 wasn’t a plan, despite the example of his father who stalwartly ran for council on and off over decades, even as his health was failing.

“For me, he was an example I never wanted to follow. I never wanted to do it,” John said.

“I don’t regret it – I’ve loved it.”

When he was elected mayor, John said he sat down with general manager Max Eastcott to discuss the shortfall in funding, which was a turning point for him in the role.

“We were at the point where we’d come to June and you’d get your next round of funding at the end of June, and we were in, how the hell are we going to pay our people through June? We were right out of money,” John said.

Agreeing they were too small to do it on their own, the pair decided to invite every council in Australia that had a GDP of $100 million or more to come and meet in Canberra with a view of forming a group. 

“I couldn’t believe it. They turned up. There was quite a lot of councils there, and we formed the Australian Rural Roads Group,” John said.

The group, chaired by John, lobbied for changes to roads funding based on the productivity of the vehicles on the road.

“We were successful in every application where productivity is part of the Roads Group… it worked for us.”

A long term council employee, David retired from working for Gwydir Shire in 2013, but in 2016, a prickly election contest was approaching, and he had a phone call on the farm. 

“John was the one who rang me and said ‘I want you to stand for council in 2016′. I thought it was a bit iffy, but he told me a couple things that changed my mind, and so I stood.”

“That in itself was a funny story because I rang him and he said, I’ll have to go home and I’ll talk to Jen about it tonight and see what I’m going to do,’” John interjected.

“I said, ‘You haven’t got time. Nomination’s closed at midday.’”

As mayor, John continued to run his farming operation, and spoke about balancing the jobs.

“People would ring me up after a meeting. They’d ring the house, this is when mobile phones weren’t like they are now, and Kerry would say, “Oh, no, he’s out spraying,” and I’d have to work all night because I’d have the day away.

“It’s not about money, is it? You do it because you think the job needs doing.”

Mark said he had the same experience as Gwydir’s mayor, with full-time council duties, and frequent all-nighters on the farm. 

“I think if you want something done you ask a busy person, is a good thing without pointing the finger at some. Quite often you get people that go on council because they’re looking for something to do, and probably that’s not the right reason to go on.”

Brothers together to the end

The brothers have found mutual benefit in sharing leadership roles to get things done.

“We worked together when we were farming, but having John not only in Gwydir, but he was also the chairman of the Rural Roads Group that he started up to do some significant research and work in productivity and road funding,” Mark said.

“And on the same token, very handy having your brother in Canberra when you got to go down and meet a Minister. Mark had let us use his office, and take us in and sit in with us and introduce us. It just worked really well,” John said.

Except for some travelling to be done before age or health overcomes them, all the Coultons intend to stay on the area, developing the smaller blocks they own, and enjoying their families.

David said he weighed up the idea of putting himself forward for one more term, but chose to retire before he was too old for the role, and instead, caravan around Australia with his wife Jenny.

“I’m still involved in the town, secretary of the local P&A of the Show Society. I’m on the showground trust, and I’m still a member of the committee of the Men’s Golf Club and I’m Captain of the Vets Golf Club. So, I still got those interests, but they don’t tie me as much as what the council wanted to do.

“But now I’m looking forward to doing my thing,  for Jen and I, to go and travel.”

John said he wanted to get on the road as well with his wife Kerry, but his focus, the tie that binds all three Coultons, came back to the land.

“I’m a bit like David. I’m going to go around and see a little bit of Australia. I don’t think I’ll take any big trips. I’ll just take short ones,” he said. 

Mark has time left in the job, but after six consecutive successful campaigns, he said he is looking forward to giving back to his wife Robyn who has been his beside him throughout his political career.

“For 44 years, Robyn has basically lived her life in what I was doing, whether it was on the farm or this job.

“She’d like to spend time with our six grandkids, five of them in Tamworth, one in Sydney. We’d like to be able to be involved in their lives a bit more.”