The Board
The ACL corporate structure
The ACL is company limited by guarantee (ACN 075 120 517). It is a political lobby representing individual Christians and is neither denominationally nor politically aligned.
The ACL board
Tony McLellan – Chairman
Tony McLellan is the Chairman of the Board of the Australian Christian Lobby.
Tony was previously Chairman of Habitat Australia, Board Member of Opportunity International and is a member of many other Christian and company boards.
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Jim Wallace AM – Managing Director
Brigadier (ret.) Jim Wallace AM is the Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby.
Jim is a sought after commentator on Defence and security issues having left the Army as a Brigadier in late 2000 after a 32 year career which included command of the SAS Regt, Special Forces and the Army’s mechanised Brigade of three thousand personnel and most of the Army’s fighting vehicles. He is a graduate of Duntroon in Canberra, the British Army Staff College and the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies.
He has also lived in the Middle East and visited Palestinian refugee camps as an unarmed United Nations observer. In 1984 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to counter-terrorism. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Studies Centre and was recently appointed by the Minister of Defence to the Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Jim worships with his family at the Hughes Baptist Church in Canberra.
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Pastor Ric Benson
Ric Benson is the Senior Pastor of Kenmore Baptist Church a large, multi-staff contemporary regional church, very much engaged with other churches in a Brisbane city-wide expression of faith.
Ric has vast experience in ministry including Bible College lecturing, conference speaker, trainer-educator, Christian counsellor and Director of Church Dynamics – the church consultancy arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. He has ministered to hundreds different churches and most denominations over the last 30 years.
Ric has a great passion to see the local church become the redemptive and prophetic community that God intended it to be, with a priority on reaching the lost and turning spiritual seekers into fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.
Ric’s interest in politics began at an early age with a father involved in Credit Unions, Cooperatives and a number of years in Latrobe Valley Victoria where unionism and political conflict were part of the way of life of coal miners and associated industries. Ric was also very much involved as a teacher in challenging the government of the day concerning their education funding, policies and procedures at a time when conditions for teachers were poor and industrial unrest high.
With a background of social justice from his father, from his involvement with Teachers Unions in fighting for better conditions, and being a member of the Salvation Army involved in prisons and institutions, and more recently as a professional Christian Counsellor and Pastor for some 30 years involved with the needs of society, Ric has a deep background interest and passion in politics, the political scene, and in influencing politicians in bettering our society.
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Geoffrey Kells
Geoffrey Kells holds a Master of Economics and Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) degrees.
Geoffrey spent his executive business career in the CSR Company Ltd., with over 25,000 people in the construction materials, building products, timber products, sugar, and aluminium industries. With revenues in excess of $5 billion, it was one of the world’s largest building and construction materials companies, with operations in 13 countries. He was appointed Managing Director and CEO of CSR Ltd. in 1992, a position he held until he retired in 1997.
He has chaired companies in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, USA, Canada, UK, and Europe. He has chaired Edwards Dunlop, Red Paper Group, Tasman Building Group, Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Foundation, Anglican Retirement Villages, Macquarie Christian Studies Institute, and Opportunity International China. He has served as a director on a number of other boards, including Opportunity International Australia, the Earthwatch Institute, the NSW Bible Society, 2CBA FM, as well as chairing many Audit Committees and Investment Committees.
Geoffrey has also served as a member of Advisory Boards to the Australian Government and on the Business Council of Australia. He also consults to a number of public and private companies, and their chief executives.
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Graham Packer
Graham Parker is the co-founder and owner of Packer Leather, Brisbane.
He is Chairman of the Mansfield Christian Outreach Centre as well as being a Councillor on the board of the Christian Heritage College.
Graham is a Community Representative of Clayfield College which is part of the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association which was established in 1918.
He has been a member of the Methodist/Uniting Church for over 25 years and was a Director for Youth of Christ for over 25 years.
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