Ben outlined what it was like for him growing up in Bendigo. He looked back fondly on his time at Bendigo Senior Secondary College where he found the flexible learning arrangements and wide range of subject choices to his liking. The connections he made across a wide variety of people growing up in Bendigo gave Ben a good sense of community needs. In his days at university he took up a governance role in the YMCA and became a member of the Labour party. Meeting up with John Brumby, a fellow Bendigoian, opened up doors for him to work as a political campaigner.

 

Ben oversaw federal and state political campaigns including those for Bob Cameron and David Kennedy. He and his colleagues had little hope that Labour would win the 1999 State election. Ben in fact had to quickly call off his planned overseas trip scheduled for the Monday after the election when it became apparent that Labour would govern. He took up the position of Senior Political Advisor to Steve Bracks, the new Premier. This role involved work in marginal seats, policy development and research. Ben eventually began working with Julia Gillard who had been the chief adviser to John Brumby.

 

His role as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister paved the way for him to move into this role when Julia Gillard took over as Prime Minister. Ben was responsible for some six line managers and some fifty staff overall. Work was at a frantic pace however there were good rewards given the good working relationship which was established with the cross bench and lots of legislation including the establishment of the NDIS. Ben showed us some photos including a shot of his son with the PM and one of him front and centre in the Oval Office.(pictured) 

 

Since leaving his work in political advice Ben oversaw reconstruction programs after the Black Saturday bushfires and is currently working with the Tony Blair Foundation, an organisation which aims to attract quality people to politics. Ben has no ambition to enter politics himself and suggests that the level of pay is not in keeping with the huge commitment politicians make. He reiterated how surprised those in the labour Party were with the size of the majority in the latest election. We thank Ben for the enthralling way in which he told us his story.  He certainly does Bendigo and his family proud.