Businessman Darren Clark a tireless advocate for positive change in Alice Springs
ALICE Springs businessman Darren Clark doesn’t sit back, he stands up. And he always has. He is one of the Territory’s most famous bakers, most industrious business owners, and now a powerful voice calling for change in Alice Springs.
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DARREN Clark is the Man in the Arena.
As US President Theodore Roosevelt said, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly …”
Darren Clark doesn’t sit back, he stands up. And he always has. He’s worked 16-hour days, nearly every day, since he was a teenager.
He is one of the Territory’s most famous bakers, most industrious business owners, and now a powerful voice calling for change in Alice Springs.
Clarky has dug deep to help further the economic and personal development of remote NT communities.
He’s passionate and he wants to make a difference.
Darren Clark grew up in Ulverstone, on the north west coast of Tasmania.
He’s the eldest, with two brothers and two sisters.
Clarky says all his siblings have “gone well in life.”
“We were brought up really well. We were taught to work hard. Be honest. Be reliable. Be friendly. Be a good mate. And get a fair day’s pay, for a fair day’s work. They are the pillars of life to me,” he said.
“I don’t like liars and thieves. Be upfront!”
Sport has always been a big passion of his, and it started in these early years.
“Ulverstone was a big sports town. I wasn’t a superstar footballer, but I thought I was pretty handy at cricket,” he said.
Clarky was more than handy – he was one of the gun talents rising up the ranks, playing against the likes of Ricky Ponting.
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Clarky loves cricket, and he loves hard work.
Before school, he’d wake up at 4am, work in a bakery, go to school, then work at Coles til 9pm, and come home and go to bed.
“I just love to work. Love to warn a buck. Sometimes I wish I didn’t! But it keeps you going. It’s rewarding!,” he said.
Clarky did his apprenticeship as a pastry chef, and then he and a mate came to the mainland in 1992.
“We went to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test, then we worked at the Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island,” he said.
“I saw a job for Alice Springs advertised on the CES Board. I got on a bus and came here.
“I lived at the old Malanka's and worked six nights a week. I cleaned the showers and toilets there every night, and that got me free accommodation and a free meal.
“Malanka's was a fantastic place! A crazy place! It was Friday night every night!”
Clarky went back to Tassie and managed the famous Andy’s bakery for a couple years.
Then the desire to kick on in life drew Clarky back to the outback in 1997.
“We started the original NT Bakery. It was in a shed in Smith St. All we had was a mixer and a bench. It would get up to 63 degrees during summer in that shed,” he said.
How do you cope working in 63 degree heat?
“Go sit in the cool room, drink plenty of Powerade, and then just put up with your body cramping all night in bed,” he said.
It was a roaring success, and then Clarky opened his iconic Wicked Kneads.
He expanded to three shops, with 40 employees, and moved to a more cafe-style format.
“Town was unbelievable. Free-spirited. It was a bit more ‘outbacky’, not so regulated.,” he said.
“Full of hard workers and budding businesspeople. Full of opportunities!”
Clarky, who has a deep awareness and respect for the way hard work and achievement can drive the human spirit, then wanted to share this with others.
After much lobbying, he won Government support to start the Community Bakery Project, out on remote communities.
“I want to help people find a purpose, to have a reason to get out of bed!,” he said.
“Everyone is doing training with nowhere to take that training. I wanted to help create a sustainable economic business model out there.”
A pilot program started at Hermannsburg and Papunya. It was a huge success, and this expanded to three Outback stores.
People were given training, then a place to ply their trade, earn a wage, develop business and people skills, and build self-pride and self-determination.
“It’s the most rewarding thing I have done in my life. To see people feel proud of themselves. Watching them have friends come in and buy something from them,” he said.
“One bloke, after working and cleaning at the bakery, decided he’d buy a mop and broom for his own house. Little bits of changes like that.
“When you drive back from Yuendumu or Hermannsburg with tears in your eyes, you know you’ve achieved something.”
A few years back, Clarky met the love of his life, Kate Freestone.
“We met through friends of friends, I invited her for a drink. And the rest is history!
“She’s a tremendous support. She keeps me pumped up when I’m a bit deflated and feeling flat.
“Kate gets rid of my anxious moments and keeps me going.
“I couldn’t do it without her, and I’m very thankful.”
The COVID crisis rocked Clarky and Kate’s Wicked Kneads earlier this year.
“I realised straight away. Things nosedived. We shut down. And I thought, I can’t sit at home!”
Clarky brought out an idea he’d had on the backburner, and swung it in to action.
He opened a new NT Bakery!
“I thought, ‘It’s an essential service. People have to eat bread. I’m going to do this! I can do this! Let’s get stuck in!’”
The new NT Bakery has gone gangbusters and is another huge feather in Clarky’s cap.
Alice Springs is beset with a chronic crime problem, and it is causing fear and heartbreak in it’s community.
“We’ve had a lot of break-ins at Wicked Kneads. Rocks have been thrown in through our windows at least 15 times,” he said.
“It happened three days in a row, one time.
“One night both our cars were stolen. Three nights earlier the business was broken in to- it was a hell of a week!
“There are a lot of victims, including elderly people!
“One day I woke up and said ‘I’ve had enough, I’m going to start a Facebook page!’
The Action for Alice 2020 Facebook page was born.
It is an ongoing catalogue and commentary on lawless behaviour in Alice, trying to give victims a voice, and also provide cautionary information to help people from being harmed.
“I see this as my community service. I want to help save Alice Springs. It went viral! And it’s something I’m very proud of,” he said.
“It brought things to the forefront. Politicians wanted to meet with me, police wanted to meet. They came from everywhere!”
“This page is to try to help stop crime. This is a great town, great people. The police do a great job.
“But the stories you hear are heartbreaking!
“As soon as the COVID lockdown stopped, the crime has gone haywire. It’s smashing pre-COVID levels.
“But it makes you more resilient. Makes you go harder. If we all lay down, there’ll be nothing left here.
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“This is not political. It has to be bipartisan. Because this is killing the Territory. We need to start working together- no cheap political points.”
Clarky says he is “seriously thinking about” running in next year’s council election.
“I don’t know where I sit in the political world. But it’s my duty to try to help fix these problems,” he said.
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