John Englart with his beloved chihuahuas Juliet and Jones.

From Brunswick Voice
July 23, 2025

John Englart, one of Australia’s leading campaigners for social justice and climate action, died unexpectedly last week at his Fawkner home with his beloved chihuahuas, Juliet and (Indiana) Jones, close by. He was 70.

John was involved in a wide range of campaign groups, locally, nationally and even internationally. He was a prolific writer and photographer, and his writings remain a valuable resource for activists.
Online, John often used the name Takver after a character in Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. In the novel, Takver was an ordinary person, who strove for “fullfilment in their lives with honesty, integrity and social conscience.” This was how John sought to live his life.

John came from a long history of radical social activists. His grandfather Ted Englart was a unionist and prominent Queensland communist. Both his uncle Vince Englart and father Kevin Englart were blacklisted by ASIO during the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. Kevin Englart, a maths teacher, overcame political blacklisting by moving interstate.

John (full name Kevin John) was born on February 16, 1955 in Brisbane, the second child of Kevin and June Englart. John’s political radicalisation started while still at school. After the family moved to Sydney in 1970, John participated in Vietnam Moratorium protests with his parents. He also started documenting the social movements of the 1970s in his diaries and with photographs. In 1973, he became involved in Sydney’s emerging gay and lesbian movement. He protested in support of the Builders Labourers Federation’s Green Bans, to protect Sydney’s heritage and open space. He also became involved in anti-uranium environmental campaigns through Friends of the Earth. As a dedicated cyclist, he participated in and helped organise many Rides Against Uranium.

Much of John’s life from 1975 to 1990 revolved around the Anarchist movement in Sydney.  His experience in the short-lived Federation of Australian Anarchists cemented in him a determination to do Anarchism differently.  Accordingly, in 1977 he was a founding member of Jura Books, now Sydney’s longest running Anarchist bookshop.  Differences within the collective led to a split in 1982, with John amongst those leaving to establish the Redfern Black Rose Anarchist Bookshop.  Out of those experiences, John learnt much about working with people in a collective and egalitarian way.

John moved to Melbourne in 1990 to be with his partner Helen Lee. Between 1992 and 2008, they lived with friends in a collectively-owned house in Brunswick (known as the Bread and Roses Collective), which practised income sharing. John and Helen’s daughter Tarryn was born in 2000. Helen had two older children, Jesi and Erin and a foster daughter Kate. Although Helen and John later separated, they remained close friends, and John helped care for Helen after her terminal cancer diagnosis in 2017. After the house in Brunswick was sold, John moved to Fawkner in 2010, where he lived until recently with Tarryn.

In Melbourne, John continued with his cycling activism – if there was change to be made on a bicycle John was there. Once Critical Mass rides started in Melbourne in 1995, John was a regular participant. His Maltese terrier Hamish would accompany him in a trailer behind his bike. In 2007, John joined Merri-bek Bicycle User Group (or Moreland BUG as it was then known). John led BUG rides to Climate Rallies and was a sociable and enthusiastic participant in many rides, especially the fortnightly Wednesday BUG ride.

He was an active and informed contributor to discussions both online and at meetings, and was generous in sharing his research and encyclopaedic knowledge with other BUG members. As a frequent committee member over the years, John informed BUG submissions and provided extensive experience as a campaigner, and expertise on climate change and transport emissions. His indefatigable campaigns to extend the Upfield Path to Upfield and get the Merri Creek shared path extended, have sadly not been achieved in his time. His tireless documentation of promises, obfuscation, bungles and lapses in cycling infrastructure by all levels of government has laid bare the empty promises of politicians.

John also loved watching the Tour de France, and in his final days, he and the chihuahuas (@JulietAndJones) had been participating in the #CouchPeloton, an online community of fans, predicting the #FRATL (the time of the first rider across the line) for each stage.

John started focusing on climate action in 2004. He was a climate blogger, and from about 2013 he became active in Climate Action Moreland/Merri-bek (CAM). Later he became the convenor. CAM continues to meet monthly, and John always provided an up-to-date report on climate action.

John was a prolific writer on the CAM blog site, and social media, writing about local, state, national and international climate issues. He wrote and contributed to submissions to all levels of government on climate and sustainable transport issues.  He took a leading role in organising climate stalls, protests and vigils, including a regular CAM stall at the Merri Food Hub. He also lobbied for better active and public transport in Merri-bek, including upgrading the Upfield line, and against the use of synthetic turf.

John also attended several United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COPs) as an accredited observer. In 2015, his daughter Tarryn accompanied him to COP21 in Paris. At these COPs, John frequently used social media to highlight Australia’s failures to act on climate. He was part of the Climate Action Network “Fossil of the Day” team – an award given to the worst country that day for blocking climate action. Australia was a frequent Fossil winner under the coalition government. Sometimes John’s activities got under the skin of politicians. We well remember his tweet to Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the COP21 in 2015, which said he was ashamed that Australia was not standing with the Coalition of Ambition. Julie Bishop replied to John: “We have accepted an invitation to join so no need for your ‘shame’.

John was a regular attendee at Merri-bek Council meetings, and often lobbied Councillors on climate and active transport matters. Long-term Councillor Sue Bolton acknowledge his contribution: “I have no doubt that John’s careful research about issues in the community and issues that council was focused on, as well as his advocacy and campaign work, stopped the council from making some bad or weak decisions and in some cases helped the council to make good decisions”.

As a citizen journalist, John wrote extensively, initially on his Takver’s Initiative website. He wrote for NoFibs from 2013 to 2019, and has been running the Climate Citizen blogspot since 2004. He has also written extensively on the Climate Action Merri-bek and the Upgrade Upfield LineExtend the Upfield Bike Path to Upfield and Sustainable Fawkner blog sites. He also took thousands of photos of various actions, and uploaded them to flickr.

John was awarded the Eureka Australia Medal in 2009 for social contributions in the spirit of the Eureka Oath. In 2019, he won the Moreland Award for Environment Sustainability.

Despite being a busy activist and a citizen journalist, John also held down a day job. He worked in IT with Telstra for many years, and was later a web assistant and web content editor with Melbourne Polytechnic. He retired from paid work in 2015.

John also loved good food, and celebrating with family friends. Equinox and solstice parties were a particular favourite. Friends have remarked that while John was a private person, he was generous with his time and would do anything to help a friend. He was well known in his local community and would often chat with locals when cycling through the streets, or having brunch at local cafes, or attending the Gilpin Park Chihuahua meetup. During most rides, Juliet and Jones, sporting the sign ‘Chihuahuas for climate action’ lay in their cosy spot in the crate on the front of John’s basket.

The exact date and cause of John’s death are yet to be determined.

He is survived by his daughter Tarryn, step-offspring Erin and Jesi, grand-daughter Ellen, foster daughter Kate, brother Paul, nieces Heidi and Meg, nephew Damien, chihuahuas Juliet and Jones, and many friends, political comrades and fellow activists. John’s Maltese terrier Hamish died in 2004, and his Jack Russell terrier, Elsie, died in 2021. Juliet and Jones are to be adopted by another chihuahua-loving climate activist.

Family and friends will celebrate John’s life on Monday, July 28, 12noon – 4pm, at St Mark’s Fawkner, corner of Lee Street and Sydney Road. All who knew John are welcome.

This obituary was written by Andrea Bunting, with contributions from John’s daughter Tarryn Clancy, and friends Greg Platt, Faith Hunter and Jan Carr.

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