Declan Clausen
ALP Candidate - Ward 1 - Newcastle
Councillor Declan Clausen was elected to the City of Newcastle Council at a by-election held in February 2015. He was re-elected to Council and elected Deputy Lord Mayor in September 2017. He is the youngest person to hold of the Office of Deputy Lord Mayor in the City's 220-year history, and has been re-elected to the role for four consecutive terms.
Declan is an energetic and committed local who is passionate about sustainability, equality and renewing pride in Newcastle.
In addition to serving as Deputy Lord Mayor, Declan is the Chair of the City’s Strategy and Innovation Advisory Committee, and a Member of the Asset, Youth, Liveable Cities Advisory Committees.
Key achievements on Council including moving Newcastle to 100% renewable energy from 1 January 2020 and construction of the Council-owned Summerhill Solar Farm, the delivery of the City’s first fenced dog park at North Lambton and upgrades at Islington Dog Park, and park and playground upgrades across the City including at Blackbutt, Stockton and Foreshore Park.
Declan holds a Masters of Science in Sustainable Urban Development with Merit from the University of Oxford (UK), a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) with Honours I from the University of Newcastle, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has completed the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative at Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School).
As a student, Declan was awarded a number of prestigious scholarships including a University of Newcastle Industry Scholarship (formerly UNISS Scholarship) sponsored by the Hunter Water Corporation, and the Jennie Thomas Environmental Scholarship. He was named the University of Newcastle’s 2014 WiL Student of the Year award.
In 2013 Declan was named Newcastle’s Young Citizen of the Year, for his efforts to improve sustainability. Declan made use of the position of Young Citizen to highlight the important work being undertaken by Newcastle City Council residents to better our community. From 2013 to 2015, Declan wrote a weekly opinion column in the Newcastle Post Newspaper, a newspaper that is distributed to 140,000 households each week.
Declan is active within a number of local community groups. He was trained as a Climate Reality Leader by Former US Vice President Al Gore.
Declan is a founding member and National Treasurer of the Labor Environment Action Network.
Declan is passionate about our City, and fights for the services our community deserves.