Coonabarabran's Fred Kearney named Lions Australia Youth of the Year for 2023

Fred Kearney - a year 12 student at The Armidale School (TAS), where he is a boarder - was declared the Lions Australia Youth of the Year for 2023 during the Lions national convention at The Star Casino on the Gold Coast on Monday, May 1.

"It was both a shock and exciting to be named the winner from such a group of accomplished students from across Australia who have all done great things in their respective areas," Mr Kearney said.

Mr Kearney was selected to represent NSW at the event after winning the state final in Bathurst last month.

To earn the title, students are interviewed by a panel of judges on their leadership, sporting, cultural and community interests and academic achievements.

They were also asked to address questions on Australia's housing crisis and environmental sustainability and give a self-assessment of their strengths and weaknesses as a leader.

Then, students took to the stage for a public speaking competition where they presented a prepared five minute speech and answered two impromptu questions on whether they considered artificial intelligence a 'friend or foe' and 'if you were a global influencer for a day, what would you do?'.

For his prepared speech, Mr Kearney drew on his experience living through the record drought in 2018 and 2019.

He examined the question of whether tough times make people tougher, instead proposing that allowing people to be vulnerable and people seeking help will ultimately make for healthier and stronger individuals and communities.

The TAS Senior Prefect - who is also captain of rowing, rugby, and debating and public speaking - made history as the first from his school and Lions District N1 to take the top honour in the competition which began in 1966.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Lions Youth of the Year program and have met some highly motivated and inspiring students as well as some incredibly kind and generous Lions Club members," he said.

"Each part of the process has reminded me of the importance of community and the valuable impact each individual can have."

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