Education
Johnson was educated at Stratford Teacher's College, and worked as an insurance and real-estate salesman before entering political life.
politician Member of Ontario Provincial Parliament
Johnson was educated at Stratford Teacher's College, and worked as an insurance and real-estate salesman before entering political life.
Johnson, an Indigenous Australian from the Nepabunna Mission in rural South Australia, has been described as one of the most exciting football players of his generation. He played mostly on the wing, but was also a capable centreman. After Johnson came to Adelaide he was taken by West Adelaide player Doug Thomas for a trial with the club and made his SANFL debut in the 1957 season.
On a wing in West Adelaide's 1961 Grand Final winning team, Johnson was the first indigenous football player to play in a SANFL premiership. He represented South Australia at interstate football in 1964. Soon becoming a fan-favourite, Johnson made 16 appearances for North Melbourne in 1965.
Early in the 1966 VFL season he spoke to the media expressing his unhappiness after being dropped from the team and threatened to request a clearance back to South Australia. In round three he had been omitted from the team to play St Kilda, but was a last minute inclusion when wingman Laurie Dwyer had to withdraw with injury. These comments led to him being disciplined and cost him his spot in the side until round seven.
He ended up playing 10 games for the season. Johnson made only two senior appearances for North Melbourne in the 1967 season. He played three further VFL games in 1968, then finished his career in the Victorian Football Association, at Williamstown and later Dandenong.
In 2004, he endorsed Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario PC Party.
He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003. He was a member of the Listowel, Ontario Planning Board from 1972 to 1976, and the Listowel Public Utilities Commission from 1978 to 1984. From 1984 to 1988, Johnson served as a member of the Perth County Board of Education, becoming its Vice-Chair in 1987.