Background
Clark grew up in Beachlands, just south of Auckland, and was schooled in Auckland.
Clark grew up in Beachlands, just south of Auckland, and was schooled in Auckland.
He completed degrees in German and theology before a Doctor of Philosophy on the work of German refugee and existentialist thinker Helmut Herbert Hermann Rex.
He is the Opposition spokesperson for economic development and small business following a promotion in the February 2013 caucus reshuffle. Previously he held the Revenue Spokesperson role. Clark undertook university study at the University of Otago and Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen.
He was the celebrant at the civil union of Member of Parliament Grant Robertson.
He has also worked as a Treasury analyst and the warden of Selwyn College at the University of Otago. Before his election to Parliament, Clark served as deputy chair of the Otago Community Trust.
After serving as chairman on the Labour Party Dunedin North electorate committee, Clark was selected by the Labour Party to replace the retiring Pete Hodgson in the electorate. Clark’s maiden parliamentary speech focused on his concern about rising inequality and his passion for social justice.
In it, he argued that a more equal society will produce better outcomes, both socially and economically.
During his time as revenue spokesperson, he drew attention to difficulties the dated Inland Revenue computer system was creating for the organisation, and the small amounts that multinational companies were contributing to the tax base. Clark shot to early prominence as the sponsor of the popular ‘Mondayising’ Bill that saw additional public holidays set aside in years when Waitangi Day and Anzac Day fall on a weekend. This was the first Bill to pass against the Government in four years.
Clark completed an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2013, focusing much of his trip on the priority accorded to the values of fairness and freedom in New Zealand and the United States.