Maribyrnong councillor and former mayor Sarah Carter found dead

Three-time Maribyrnong mayor and rising star of the Australian Labor Party Sarah Carter has been found dead at her home at the age of 45.

Victoria Police confirmed they were preparing a report for the coroner after finding a woman’s body at an address at Village Way, Maribyrnong, at 3.45pm on Tuesday. The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Sarah Carter was elected mayor of Maribyrnong three times.

The cause of her death is not yet known.

This masthead spoke to many of Carter’s friends and colleagues on Tuesday, all of whom were devastated and shocked by the councillor’s death. They described her as talented, empathetic, energetic and passionate.

They also spoke of her love of travel. She had recently returned from a trip to Vanuatu with her employer, charity provider Save the Children. She had also recently been on multiple overseas trips and was due to depart for Europe this week.

Carter was touted by many as a future Labor MP and was well liked and widely known in political circles in both Melbourne and Canberra.

The first woman to be elected mayor of Maribyrnong three times, she received multiple awards for her contribution to the council since she was first elected in 2008. She was serving her fourth consecutive term on the council.

Maribyrnong City Council deputy mayor Michael Clarke described Carter as a “fallen hero” and the municipality’s most decorated female councillor.

Clarke said he had known Carter for 16 years and introduced her to the Labor Party after she was elected to council as an independent.

“She wanted nothing, only the betterment of the community,” he said. “That should be on her headstone.

“I’m in a total state of disbelief [that she is gone]. I’m hearing it, but I can’t feel it. She’s still with me.”

Carter had recently returned from Vanuatu.

Carter had spoken publicly about her IVF journey and struggles with infertility. During COVID-19 lockdowns, she spoke out against the Victorian government’s pause on IVF treatment.

Carter was one of the potential Labor candidates floated for the federal seat of Hawke in 2021. The preselection fight turned into a messy subfactional dispute over gender representation within the Labor Right, of which she was a member.

She spoke at a rally on the steps of Victorian Parliament during that preselection battle to demand a woman be preselected for the seat in Melbourne’s north-west.

Labor MP Tim Watts said he was devastated by Carter’s death.

“Sarah lived a life of values and of service and threw herself into everything she was involved in with total commitment,” he said.

“Her energy was limitless and was exhausting for those of us trying to keep up. I had the privilege of seeing first-hand the impact that Sarah had as a councillor and Mayor in Melbourne’s West, as an international aid and development advocate and as a friend. She had an impact on so many people’s lives.

“She gave so much of herself and wanted to give so much more. She’s been taken from us far too soon. It’s a terrible loss to our community and our country.”

Bill Shorten, Minister for the NDIS and federal Labor MP for Maribyrnong, described Carter as a “remarkable, irreplaceable, dedicated, passionate advocate”.

“Children’s champion, community leader, Labor through and through. The best of us,” he said.

Federal MP Tim Watts said he was devastated by Carter’s death.

“My thoughts are with her family and loved ones in this difficult time.”

Carter worked for Save the Children, where she managed the Australian Regional Leadership Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her role was to provide MPs with first-hand experience of aid efforts in the Pacific, Middle East and South-East Asia.

Carter was also passionate about gender equality, having served as Maribyrnong Council’s gender equity ambassador since 2011. She joined the board of Gender Equity Victoria this year.

Her romantic relationships had been the subject of reporting in tabloid media in recent years.

Carter pictured with Labor frontbencher and Melbourne MP Bill Shorten.

Shadow Minister for Local Government Darren Chester, a friend of Carter’s, said she was intelligent, talented and kind.

“Sarah was a beautiful and thoughtful soul who brought people together across the political divide with her infectious enthusiasm and determination to focus on the values that unite us,” he said.

“She had an extraordinary capacity to make a difference in her local community while also striving to make the world a better place through her involvement with Save the Children.

“The world is a darker place tonight.”

An emotional former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack, who had travelled to three countries with Carter, described her as a “beautiful human” and a “force of nature”.

He had returned from a trip to Vanuatu with Carter and a delegation of MPs at the weekend.

“She made such a difference and the world is a lesser place for her passing,” he said on Tuesday night. “She was smart, funny, intelligent. I am gutted”

Maribyrnong City Council released a statement late on Tuesday from Mayor Cuc Lam and CEO Celia Haddock.

“Councillor Carter was a trusted and valued colleague and her passing is an enormous loss to our community who she has worked tirelessly to support over her 16 years on Council,” it read.

“We extend our deepest condolences to Cr Carter’s partner, family, friends, and all who knew and worked alongside her.

“She will be greatly missed.”

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