Tributes have poured in for Former Maribyrnong mayor Sarah Carter who was found dead in her home in Melbourne’s inner west.
The 45-year-old was found by emergency services at her Maribyrnong home at about 3.45pm on Tuesday and could not be revived.
The glamorous councillor had been elected to the suburban Melbourne council in 2008, before reaching the role of mayor in 2011.
Her political interests included gender equity and social justice.
Victoria Police confirmed it was preparing a report for the coroner but did not share details on her cause of death, which they say isn’t being treated as suspicious.
In 2020, Ms Carter made national headlines after hitting social media to announce her upcoming wedding was off after she received information from a third party.
Just days earlier she had announced her upcoming nuptials with Aaron Lipson, an advertising director, on Facebook.
‘On Saturday, the most amazing man I’ve ever chanced upon got down on one knee and proposed,’ Ms Carter wrote in the post, attracting hundreds of reactions on the social media website.
‘I, of course, rushed to say “yes” and just like that we’re engaged to be married. I’m the luckiest gal in all the world and can’t wait to be your wife Aaron Lipson – love you to the moon and back.’
But while celebrating the news with her friends and family and basking in the glow of well-wishers, a third party phoned her to reveal some bad news.
‘The wedding is off,’ she wrote in the second post.
‘Thank you to the woman for telling me, best to know now.
‘I’m obviously terribly embarrassed.’
It is understood Ms Carter had no shortage of male suitors in the years that followed the split and at the time of her death she was linked to Melbourne man Nikhil Roy, who just months ago she celebrated an anniversary with.
In April the pair were seen boarding a plane together to Singapore before Ms Carter jetted off solo for a European adventure.
The trip away had been her first proper break from council duties in 15-years, she stated at the time.
Ms Carter had spoken publicly about her IVF journey and struggles with infertility, and during COVID-19 lockdowns, she spoke out against the Victorian government’s pause on IVF treatment.
Tributes continued to overflow online on Wednesday for the beloved Footscray identity, who just days ago returned from a trip to Vanuatu with her employer, charity provider Save the Children.
New South Wales MP Michael McCormack shared a touching story about Ms Carter from that trip.
‘Just last Friday night I was due to do a live cross from Port Vila to Sky News back in .
‘We had all gone out for dinner at a rather busy (and therefore noisy) restaurant and the time for the interview was looming,’ he stated.
‘She arranged with the restaurant manager a quiet location, then proceeded to stack stools on top of each other on which she delicately placed food containers and a candle to balance the phone.
‘“There you go!” she declared when it was all set up. “How very professional.”
‘Sarah was pleased with her innovative “makeshift studio” structure and laughed as she hurried off to get the manager to turn down the music and ever so politely ask some nearby customers to be quiet for just a few moments whilst I beamed in to Sky host Danica De Giorgio.
There is already a push for the Victorian Government to hold a State Funeral for Ms Carter.
Ms Carter was touted by many as a future Labor MP and was well liked and 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 at the time of her death.
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