EULOGY FOR SARAH HELEN CARTER 1979-2024 DELIVERED ON FRIDAY 16 AUGUST 2024 AT FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE
As we farewell beautiful Sarah, a newborn is entering the world in a far-flung village of stick huts in a forsaken part of Kenya.
The baby boy, of the Turkana people, blinks, breathes and utters his first hungry cry.
It will not be his last.
He will never know – but his chances of surviving the harsh, desolate landscape and desperate and disadvantaged circumstances into which he has been born are decidedly better because of Sarah Helen Carter.
In Goroka, in the remote Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, a young girl is lining up at a health clinic to receive a cervical cancer vaccine. This immunisation program has been made possible by the advocacy and efforts of the Save the Children organisation and, in particular, one Sarah Carter.
The jab will ultimately save this little girl’s life.
At the Malampa Counselling Centre on Malakula Island in the Vanuatu archipelago, a domestic violence victim receives vital wrap-around services after a night of distress and pain.
This mother is clearly distraught and worried.
But she has a future and so do her children – free of harm and hurt – due to the important work supported over a number of years by our remarkable Sarah.
The pictures I paint are typical ones.
They are not isolated to merely the places I mentioned, but are occurring around the globe in so many locations visited by the amazing Sarah.
Sarah touched the lives of so many – here and abroad – and her drive and passion ensured the lives of countless children were improved and often saved.
Although she is gone – that is so very hard to say – the outcomes she gained will for many, many years hence, make such a difference.
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Just look at the picture up there, Sarah had the loveliest eyes – eyes which were deep wells of empathy and understanding but which would dance excitedly and mischievously when the occasion demanded.
Her radiant smile would light up a room.
She had an incredible personality and presence.
But it was her heart that made Sarah who she was and who she will always be.
Sarah had an enormous heart.
It was filled with love.
Love of life.
A life devoted to others, especially the underprivileged and vulnerable.
She loved and was loved, more than she probably will ever know.
Sarah never had a bad word to say about anyone or anything.
All who knew Sarah enjoyed her company.
So vivacious.
Energetic.
A true force of nature!
Funny.
Compassionate.
In the dusty, windswept African plains, jungles of PNG and Pacific tropics of Vanuatu – indeed in developing countries the world over – right now there are children and families who are being nurtured and sustained by the wonderful work and dedication of Sarah.
We all get one chance – just one chance – to make a difference with our lives.
Sarah made the most of her life and she truly helped build a better world.
In the countries she visited with Save the Children since 2015 – Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan and Lebanon, Kenya, Myanmar, PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu – and elsewhere.
Her organisational skills – keeping everyone and everything on time – had to be seen to be believed.
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Sarah and I were on opposite sides of the political spectrum and we have heard from Labor, we have heard from the unions and now you are going to hear from the Nationals.
That said we had more in common than we both probably cared to admit.
My wife Catherine and I just loved her, we really did. Our deepest condolences go out to Sarah’s family and wide circle of friends.
I am desperately, desperately sad she will never have the opportunity to take a seat in the House of Representatives in the Commonwealth Parliament – I was looking forward to yelling at her from the other side.
But don’t just take my word for this – it is a view shared by my Federal Coalition colleagues Darren Chester and Dan Tehan – both of whom are here today, both of whom who are beneficiaries of fact-finding trips with Sarah.
She would have made a powerful Federal politician, just like she was as Mayor and Councillor for many years past.
And if you ever wondered about her collective drawing power, the night I found out that she had passed I shared 10 minutes of blubbering with Tim Watts – that is the effect she had.
What a great tragedy – for Labor, for Maribyrnong and the western suburbs of Melbourne, for Victoria – for Australia and the world, the whole world.
For she saw injustice and she did her best to right the wrong.
She saw despair and she brought hope.
She opened her heart and others’ minds to the transformational power of foreign aid.
She cared and she dared – to do things differently, to stir consciences to achieve consequences for good.
Sarah was confident and outgoing, yet humility was one of her finest attributes.
“Mourn not for me,” Sarah would be saying right now. “Rather, be nice and do good.”
Sarah’s all too short life shone a light on what could and should be accomplished internationally to assist those less fortunate than ourselves.
Let us all follow her generosity of time and spirit and try to be gentler and kinder.
For Sarah’s sake.
Rest in peace, sweet Sarah.
Goodbye, guardian angel.