Ben Keneally
Mayor of Botany Bay
In office
8 September 2012 – 9 September 2016
DeputyGeorge Glinatsis
Stan Kondilios
Preceded byRon Hoenig
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
Personal details
Political partyLabor
SpouseKristina Keneally
Children3 (1 deceased)
Alma materUniversity of Sydney

Ben Keneally is an Australian management consultant and politician. He was the Mayor of Botany Bay from 2012 to 2016.[1] His wife is the former NSW Premier and former Senator Kristina Keneally.[2][3]

Early life and career

Keneally grew up in Gladesville, New South Wales. Educated at Holy Cross College, Ryde and the University of Sydney. Keneally worked in the Boston Consulting Group from 1994 to 2003,[4] then as a management consultant for Medical Imaging Australia Limited (MIA). He then worked as executive director at NSW Department of Housing, and then as Premier Morris Iemma's deputy chief of staff.[5] He then worked for an environmental consultancy before entering politics.[6]

Keneally was originally planning to challenge Deirdre Grusovin for Labor preselection in the state seat of Heffron in 2003. However, Labor's affirmative action rules required a female candidate, so he stood down in favour of his wife Kristina.[7]

Keneally was the Labor candidate for City of Botany Bay's mayoral election during the 2012 local government elections, and was elected as Mayor.[8] Later while he was Mayor, Keneally also began to work as a chief executive of a health care company.[9] In December 2015, he delegated his mayoral duties to deputy mayor Stan Kondilio due to his increased workload at the health care company. He officially continued as Mayor until the council was dissolved and amalgamated to form Bayside Council in September 2016.[10]

In January 2017, Keneally returned to the Boston Consulting Group to be a managing director and partner at its Sydney office.[6][11] He still holds these positions as of March 2023. Keneally is the Asia-Pacific Healthcare lead for BCG.

Personal life

Keneally met his future wife Kristina at World Youth Day 1991 in Poland. She moved to Australia in 1994 to be with him, but they returned to the US so Ben could take up a position with the Boston Consulting Group. They married there in 1996.[4][12] They returned to Australia two years later, after their son was born.

The couple has two sons. A daughter died at birth.[13]

Keneally is the nephew of Australian author Thomas Keneally.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Keneally romp in as mayor".
  2. ↑ Nicholls, Sean (27 July 2012). "Another Keneally sets sights on politics". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Imre Salusinszky (19 July 2012). "Two Keneallys in a game of Labor musical chairs". The Australian. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 Snow, Deborah; Davies, Anne (5 December 2009). "Labor's least likely". The Age.
  5. ↑ "Ben Keneally, contributor profile". The DRUM Opinion. Drum TV. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  6. 1 2 "Ben Keneally". Linkedin. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Deobrah Show & Anne Davies, Labor's least likely, The Age, 5 December 2009
  8. ↑ "2012 NSW Local Council Elections - The Council of the City of Botany Bay". ABC News. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Botany Bay Council Mayor Ben Keneally steps aside in advance of Baird Government's decision on local government mergers". The Daily Telegraph. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Council amalgamations: Botany lodges proposal for merged 'port' council". Illawarra Mercury. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Ben Keneally - Managing Director & Partner Sydney". Boston Consulting Group. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  12. ↑ Walker, Frank (29 March 2008). "Fine romance for young believers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  13. ↑ Smith, Alexandra (11 July 2008). "Faith, but it's a test of spirit for the junior minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  14. ↑ Jerga, Josh (3 December 2009). "Katrina [recte Kristina] Keneally is Catholic feminist with American twang". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
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