Tributes have poured in for former Maribyrnong mayor Sarah Carter, who was found dead at her home in Melbourne’s inner west.
Emergency services found the 45-year-old woman at her Maribyrnong home at around 3.45pm on Tuesday and were unable to revive her.
The glamorous councillor was elected to Melbourne’s suburban council in 2008, before taking up the role of mayor in 2011.
Her political interests included gender equality and social justice.
Victoria Police confirmed they were preparing a report for the coroner but did not share details about the cause of death, which they say is not being treated as suspicious.
In 2020, Ms. Carter made national headlines after taking to social media to announce that her upcoming wedding would be called off following information from a third party.
Just a few days earlier, she had announced on Facebook her upcoming marriage to Aaron Lipson, advertising director.
“On Saturday, the most incredible man I have ever met got down on one knee and proposed to me,” Carter wrote in the post, drawing hundreds of reactions on the social media website.
“Of course, I was quick to say yes and just like that, we were engaged to be married. I am the luckiest woman in the world and I can’t wait to be your wife, Aaron Lipson. I love you to the moon and back.”
High-profile Mayor Sarah Carter called off her engagement to boyfriend Aaron Lipson in 2020 after receiving information from a third party
Sarah Carter shared her upcoming nuptials with her boyfriend of eight months in a gushing Facebook post in 2020.
But while she was celebrating the news with her friends and family and enjoying the well-wishes, a third party called her on the phone to reveal some bad news.
“The wedding is off,” she wrote in the second post.
‘Thanks to the woman for telling me, it’s better to know now.
“I’m obviously terribly embarrassed.”
Ms Carter is known to have had no shortage of male suitors in the years following the split and at the time of her death was linked to Melbourne man Nikhil Roy, with whom she celebrated an anniversary just months ago.
In April, the couple was spotted boarding a plane to Singapore together before Carter headed off on a European adventure alone.
The trip had been his first real break from his council duties in 15 years, he said at the time.
Ms Carter had spoken publicly about her experience of IVF and her struggles with infertility, and during the COVID-19 lockdowns, she spoke out against the Victorian government’s pause on IVF treatment.
A third called to warn Ms. Carter as she basked in the support of her supporters.
Mrs Carter with Labor MP Bill Shorten
Tributes continued to pour in online on Wednesday for the beloved Footscray personality, who just days ago returned from a trip to Vanuatu with his employer, the charity Save the Children.
New South Wales MP Michael McCormack shared a touching story about Ms Carter from that trip.
‘Last Friday night I was scheduled to do a live broadcast from Port Vila to Sky News in Australia.
“We had all gone out to dinner at a fairly busy (and therefore noisy) restaurant and the time for the interview was approaching,” he said.
‘He arranged with the restaurant manager for a quiet spot, then proceeded to stack stools on top of each other upon which he delicately placed containers of food and a candle to balance the telephone.
Cr Carter (right) recently celebrated an anniversary with her partner, Nikhil Roy (left), at the end of May.
New South Wales MP Michael McCormack with the makeshift studio Sarah Carter (right) set up during a recent trip
“That’s it!” he declared when everything was ready. “What a professional!”
‘Sarah was pleased with her innovative ‘makeshift studio’ setup and laughed as she rushed to ask the manager to turn down the music and very politely asked some nearby customers to be quiet for a few moments while I broadcast to Sky presenter Danica De Giorgio.
There is already pressure for the Victorian Government to hold a state funeral for Mrs Carter.
Ms Carter was widely regarded as a future Labor MP and was well liked and well known in Melbourne and Canberra political circles.
She was the first woman to be elected Mayor of Maribyrnong three times and has received multiple awards for her contribution to the council since she was first elected in 2008.
He was serving his fourth consecutive term on the council at the time of his death.