A. B. Paterson 
Saltbush Bill, J. P. 

Saltbush Bill, J.P. is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson. It was first published in The Evening News on 16 December 1905.

After a long life of droving Saltbush Bill is appointed a J.P. (Justice of the Peace). But he is disappointed to find no mention of pay until he discovers, in his contract, the line ‘A magistrate may charge a pound/For inquest on a fire.’ Bill and the local indigenous population collude to make good use of this provision.