Lynne Mowbray |

A Grafton man has been acknowledged for his long serving dedication to the community as a JP.

Eris Hackett 77 has notched up 50 years service as a Justice of the Peace (JP) and has been presented with a commemorative certificate, from the NSW Attorney General’s Department.

The certificate is awarded to JP’s who have served over many years; in appreciation of their outstanding dedication to their community. 

Late last year, Mr Hackett was invited to attend a ceremony with the Attorney General at NSW Parliament House to receive his award, but was unfortunately unable to attend.

Last month Mr Hackett was presented with his special award by Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis.

Before coming to Grafton 17 years ago, Mr Hackett said that he had lived all over the state of NSW.

“I worked in the banking industry for many years,” Mr Hackett said.

“Becoming a JP was just something you did back then, because being a young ‘bankie’ you had to sign a lot of documents.

“I’m still a JP and I was really quite honoured to receive this award.

“I certainly, in my wildest dreams, didn’t expect anything like this and in fact I wasn’t even aware that I’d been a JP for 50 years,” Mr Hackett said.

For the last 17 years since arriving in Grafton, Mr Hackett said that he has worked with St Mary’s Parish in Grafton, as the parish business manager.

“Although I’ve been working for 61 years this year, I still don’t have any plans to retire,” he said.