Boots ‘n’ all: Fred Dagg comes home to Palmy
Published on 11 December 2025
The late John Clarke (aka the iconic Fred Dagg) has been brought home to Palmy with the New Zealand premiere of an intimate documentary made by his daughter.
A homecoming filled with heart
Lorin Clarke was emotional when she thanked the large crowd who came to celebrate the first screening of Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke, many in gumboots paying homage to her father.
“It’s the mixture of heartfelt and almost completely silly which is so lovely. There is a sense of bringing it home to Palmerston North which was a place of freedom for dad. The brilliant collective goodwill that has brought this together and the grass roots(ism) – it’s been stupendous.”
John was born in Palmerston North and lived here till he went off to boarding school in Wellington aged 12. His primary school days were spent at College Street Normal School and at the premiere, pupils of the school proudly did a performance of the legendary Fred Dagg Gumboot Song.
Such was the long lasting legacy of John that this new generation of Gumboot Song singers knew exactly who the Fred Dagg character was. And that is something Lorin said the documentary strives to understand.
“Dad was Fred Dagg but he was always himself. Whatever character dad was being you could always see him in his eyes. He always had that direct connection with his audience. The audience was what was important to dad Dad, he came from the audience. And he was so good at finding the silly.”
A treasure trove of memories
The feature length documentary is a love letter of sorts from Lorin, his family and those who knew him. John was the family’s mischievous video archiver and Lorin said there was a treasure trove of footage available to her.
“I also had recorded conversations between me and my dad and he had written stuff down. We actually had too much footage and so it was a really creative process bringing together all the elements. I learnt a lot, I mean I have worked in radio, theatre, the printed word and audio production but I hadn’t done this before. But from day one I thought ‘yes, I have!’. It’s storytelling and that was a good thing to remember. For me what’s interesting about dad is where he came from and where he got to in the end.”
Finding the silly in everyday life
John proudly framed his final university marks outlining his failed attempts, a nod to the wonderful, creative time he had which saw him develop as a person rather than an academic. John was interested in people, satire and laughing at oneself. Working in a shearing gang was on one hand monotonously boring, but also a place where Lorin says her dad gathered banter and language. "Dad loved language and he would listen to people talk and he would pick out the creative ways that people would say a boring thing. One of the things I am trying to celebrate here is finding the silly.”
Those days in the woolshed informed the evolution of Fred Dagg in the early 70s. The laconic, familiar farmer dressed in his black singlet, ripped shorts, floppy hat and black gumboots. Alongside the Trevs, his seven sons, the character of Fred Dagg gave New Zealander’s a chance to laugh at themselves. Many other characters followed but Fred Dagg captured some kind of magic that has lasted through the decades.
Rallying to bring the party to Palmy
Enough reason to pull out all the stops, said Chris Gallavin, one of the instigators of bringing the premiere to Palmerston North.
“I sat down with Malcolm Hopwood and he told me about the documentary. We thought since John Clarke was born here we really should have the premiere here. Malcolm looked at his coffee then he looked me in the eye and said, “shall we do something about it?” and I said, “too right!”.”
This was only three weeks before the premiere and so in true Kiwi style, one that Lorin said her dad would have loved, favours were pulled, chats were had and good mahi brought it together. Chris and Malcolm got 13 sponsors on to the table and Palmerston North City Council got in behind it all. Mayor Grant Smith was at the premiere, “boots ‘n’ all”.
“John Clarke, or Fred Dagg was one of Palmy’s own and so it was important to chase the premiere and bring him home.”
Te Manawa also had a part to play, said Chris and they “pulled out the stops to bring the original Fred Dagg outfit here”. That meant a quick dash for Te Manawa staff to pick up the iconic garb that is now on display at the museum.
“It was no small feat, they normally require 12 months’ notice. We got Lorin to come over from Melbourne – and the Trevs of course.”
The Trevs are a bunch of Fred Dagg fans who found their way into the documentary out of pure enthusiasm. They drove over from Cambridge for the premiere and were honoured front row guests, arriving on the back of a ute.
“This is the shot in the arm,” said Chris, “after a hard year that our community needed.”
A night of generosity and aroha
Event Cinemas screened the documentary for free with popcorn for all and Lorin was “overwhelmed” by her welcome.
“Dad would have loved this. Dad died suddenly, unexpectedly – he was fine and then he wasn’t. We had always said to him you have to write this all down but we didn’t think he’d done it. But we found one document on his laptop called For Lauren and Lucia – about 70 pages long – his whole life written down. So to me that was pretty good first hand evidence of his story. It felt like a prescient little gift.”
Brought home, brought to the screen and carried on with every “get in behind!” or “she’ll be right”. Palmerston North’s own icon, remembered and rediscovered not only by his daughter but by a nation through a humble little film.
Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke will be screened at Focal Point Cinema.