Sara Faraj to run for election to Fraser Coast council

An inspirational former Youth Mayor and Young Citizen of the Year has announced her intention to run for election to the Fraser Coast council in March 2024.

Sara Diana Faraj has announced she will be a candidate for Division 9 in the 2024 local council elections.

The local government elections are still five months away but several candidates and standing councillors are already making their intentions known as the unofficial race for election kicks off.

With the Fraser Coast Council Division 9 representative preparing to contest the Qld state election on October 26, 2024, a new contender has put her hand up to fill that seat at council.

Young achiever Sara Diana Faraj has announced she will be a candidate for Division 9 in the March 16, 2024 local council election.

Current Div 9 councillor David Lee was recently announced the LNP candidate to run against incumbent Labor Hervey Bay MP Adrian Tantari in October.

Ms Faraj is president of the Fraser Coast Young Professionals and has advocated strongly for ensuring the region and community provides employment, educational and recreational opportunities for young people.

The former Zonta Hervey Bay Club president was Young Citizen of the Year and Youth Mayor in 2022.

She said this week Hervey Bay had enormous potential and as community member who decided to stay here after finishing school to pursue a career, she wanted to contribute in a positive way.

Following in the footsteps of her partner Ben Souvlis, Sara Diana Faraj was the winner of the Con Souvlis Young Achiever Award.

“Through local government we can make positive change in our community and I believe young people need to be part of that,” she said.

Ms Faraj said she would be meeting with as many people as possible during the campaign to ensure she was able to advocate for Division 9.

Michelle Govers (left) is running for Division 5, the seat currently held by Jade Wellings.

“We need a council that is connected to the community, listens to people’s concerns and takes action,” she said.

“I have the energy, experience and the commitment to serve our community.”

Ms Faraj’s announcement also comes after Fraser Coast councillor Jade Wellings confirmed she would not run in March.

Up until the recent resignation of Division 7 councillor Darren Everard and election of Jan Hegge in his place, Mrs Wellings was the lone woman out of 11 councillors.

The Division 5 councillor has publicly backed Michelle Govers, a former business owner and government staffer, to take the baton.

Ms Wellings will continue to serve on the council until the election, at which point her friend and colleague David Lee will step away from his position on the council to focus on contesting the state election.

Division 5 predecessor Rolf Light has confirmed his candidacy for Division 10, which is currently held by councillor Zane O’Keefe and will also being contested by young professional Luke Strochnetter.

Division 6 councillor David Lewis is also expected to retire from the council, but no other departures have yet been confirmed.

Originally published as Sara Faraj to run for election to Fraser Coast council