New president for the AHA

David Canny is the new national president of the Australian Hotels Association with Scott Leach stepping down after five years in the position.

Canny was elected unopposed. AHA South Australia’s David Basheer is the new Senior Vice-President and the Tasmanian Hospitality Association’s Ben Carpenter is the new National Secretary/Treasurer. Pail Palmer from the Northern Territory’s remains Vice-President. Leach will continue in the role of AHA NSW President, a role he has held since 2008.

Canny said, “It’s an honour to be elected as National President and I look forward to working closely with all state and territory branches as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic and we work to solve issues such as the chronic worker shortage.”

Canny is a second-generation hotelier, has been licensee at the Red Lion Hotel, Ballarat since 1995 and is director of the Montague Hotel, South Melbourne.