Saltbush Bill, J.P.
Saltbush Bill, J.P. is a humorous poem by Australian writer Banjo Paterson. It first appeared in The Evening News on 16 December 1905.
Saltbush Bill is one of Paterson’s best-known characters, who appears in five poems: Saltbush Bill (1894), Saltbush Bill's Second Fight (1897), Saltbush Bill's Gamecock (1898), Saltbush Bill on the Patriarchs (1903), and Saltbush Bill, J.P. (1905).
After a long life as a drover, Saltbush Bill becomes a Justice of the Peace. He is disappointed to find no 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 team up to make good use of this provision.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:15 (CET).