John Clarke

Ngatanwarr/Nyoora

I am Johnboy (Trakka) Clarke.

I am GunditjMara/Eastern Maar & Wadawurrung with family links to Framlingham. My understanding of obligations developed as a child when the Framlingham Community’s staunch leadership successfully blockaded the forest to save it from clearing.

I have carried this experience into a 27-year long professional career in conservation with a focus on wetlands, fire & cultural heritage.

A unique aspect of my nomination is my experience living and working in Canada alongside Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, some treaty and some not. This exposure to the realities of a living treaty landscape continues with long standing relationships that inform my understanding of treaty as a concept and where benefits may exist and where they do not.

I bring professionalism, integrity and respect. I bring to any conversation a clear and unmistakable message that we can secure a safe, equitable and prosperous future. I am an advocate for Community and will work to ensure that Gellung Warl will always remain an extension of our communities into government, and never an extension of Government into our Communities.

My nomination for a seat in the South West Region of Gellung Warl is a continuation of my service to the Community.