Ben Kearney
Ben was the director of the campaign to establish Coles Bay, Tasmania, as Australia's first plastic shopping bag-free town in 2003. Ben has worked with dozens of other towns and communities around Australia and overseas to follow their model. He was Tasmanian of the Year in 2005 and was Australian of the Year - Local Hero in the same year.
Ben has extensive experience in small business and tourism in various roles including President of the Freycinet Tourism Association; Board Member of the Baking Industry Association of Tasmania and in 2006 studied the use of sustainable packaging technologies in the hospitality industry overseas on a Churchill Fellowship.
Ben is currently employed as the National Policy Manager of the Australian Newsagents Federation and is also the Tasmanian director of the charity "Do Something", founded by Jon Dee and Pat Cash. Ben has also been a member of the inaugural Tasmanian Climate Action Council and is currently completing a Masters of Business at the University of Tasmania.