Hajnal Ban
Encyclopedia
Hajnal Black is an Australian barrister
, author and conservative politician. She is currently a councillor for Logan City, elected 15 March 2008. Previously she was a councillor for the (now defunct) Beaudesert Shire
Council from 27 March 2004. She was an unsuccessful National Party
candidate for the federal seat of Forde
, south of Brisbane, at the 2007 federal election. She won Liberal National Party
selection for the newly-created federal seat of Wright
in November 2009 but subsequently lost endorsement following allegations that she mismanaged the funds of a 65-year-old man.
In 2002 she underwent surgery to increase the length of each leg by 8 cm. She published her experiences in the book God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall under the pseudonym
Sara Vornamen. She also released a book called Her Secret.
, Israel
, to Hungarian
parents. She speaks fluent Hungarian (the primary language in her home) and English. Ban's grandfather was an Eastern European Jewish
Holocaust
survivor who moved the family to Israel in 1976 to escape communism. The family moved to Austria
in 1980 and then immigrated to Logan City, south of Brisbane
, Australia
in 1983. On gaining pre-selection for a Federal seat, Ban relinquished her Israeli citizenship as Section 44 of the Australian Constitution
forbids the election of people holding dual citizenship to its parliament.
Primary School and then Marsden State High School
in Logan City, graduating in 1995. After high school she entered Griffith University's
law school
and completed a double degree in Law and International Business. Ban was then admitted as a Barrister-at-Law in 2001.
where she was operated on by Dr Constantine Novikov.
Over a period of 5 months Ban was bedridden as her legs were lengthened. The process of lengthening took 12 months. She returned to Australia and talked to the media about her operation under the pseudonym Sara Vornamen in an attempt to hide her identity. Under the name 'Sara Vornamen' Hajnal Ban wrote a book about her surgery, God made me small, Surgery made me Tall.
Brisbane's Courier-Mail
revealed in April 2009 that Ban was actually Sara Vornamen. Since that time Ban has received world wide attention for her surgery and has been a commentator on issues from sex-discrimination to extra airline charges.
She was Chairperson of the Shire's Planning and Development Committee from April 2004, until December 2005 when she was removed from the post, a move spearheaded by Councillor John Fronis, over her opposition to the State's decision to designate the North McLean Enterprise Precinct in the South East Queensland
Regional Plan, which would have placed heavy industry in the middle of her rural residential division.
.
Government
announced widespread reform to local government. The major reform was to amalgamate many councils, and Beaudesert was included in the process. Half of the Shire was amalgamated with the Shire of Boonah
to create the Scenic Rim Region while the other half was amalgamated with Logan City. Hajnal Ban's entire division was in the transferring area to be amalgamated into Logan City. Her division underwent significant change as it was merged with the neighbouring Division 5 (held by John Fronis, a Labor councillor) to form the new Logan City Division 11. Fronis and Ban subsequently contested the new division at the March 2008 elections, with Ban winning convincingly, even in areas where the Labor vote at state and federal elections has historically been high. Ban achieved 66.06% of the two-candidate-preferred vote to John Fronis' 33.94%.
Ban formed an alliance with the only other Logan City rural councillor, Sean Black, in late 2008. Together they formed a strong allegiance in council advocating and representing their similar constituencies. Ban and Black married in 2010.
, the Liberal National Party revoked their endorsement of Ban as their candidate for the federal division of Wright on 7 June 2010. The LNP claim the Adult Guardian’s questions were never disclosed in her vetting committee. Ban voluntarily surrendered her Power of Attorney on 2 July 2010 after which proceedings in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) were ceased.
Ban hit out at the Liberal National Party for taking pre-emptive action against her despite tribunal matters being settled within a month. She went on to say men in the LNP hierarchy were never comfortable with a woman being preselected in a winnable seat.
campaigner and continues to advocate for the reduction in the number of gaming machines within the Logan City local government area. Ban voted prominently in several ballots to remove Deputy Mayor of Logan, Russell Lutton, who is a pro-pokies councillor. Lutton has since fought back criticising Ban, including references to her leg lengthening story.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, author and conservative politician. She is currently a councillor for Logan City, elected 15 March 2008. Previously she was a councillor for the (now defunct) Beaudesert Shire
Shire of Beaudesert
The Shire of Beaudesert was a Local Government Area located in South East Queensland, Australia, stretching from the New South Wales border, along the Gold Coast hinterland to the urban fringes of the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich...
Council from 27 March 2004. She was an unsuccessful National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
candidate for the federal seat of Forde
Division of Forde
The Division of Forde is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland.The division was created in 1984 and is named for Frank Forde, who was briefly Prime Minister of Australia in 1945...
, south of Brisbane, at the 2007 federal election. She won Liberal National Party
Liberal National Party
The Liberal National Party is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 26 July 2008 by the merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal and National parties.-History:...
selection for the newly-created federal seat of Wright
Division of Wright
The Division of Wright is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Queensland. The seat was first contested at the 2010 election. The division was created under the Australian Electoral Commission's 2009 Redistribution of Queensland. The division of Wright covers a large area of the Gold...
in November 2009 but subsequently lost endorsement following allegations that she mismanaged the funds of a 65-year-old man.
In 2002 she underwent surgery to increase the length of each leg by 8 cm. She published her experiences in the book God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Sara Vornamen. She also released a book called Her Secret.
Early life
Hajnal Ban was born in AfulaAfula
Afula is a city in the North District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley", referring to the Jezreel Valley. The city had a population of 40,500 at the end of 2009.-History:...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, to Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
parents. She speaks fluent Hungarian (the primary language in her home) and English. Ban's grandfather was an Eastern European Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor who moved the family to Israel in 1976 to escape communism. The family moved to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1980 and then immigrated to Logan City, south of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1983. On gaining pre-selection for a Federal seat, Ban relinquished her Israeli citizenship as Section 44 of the Australian Constitution
Section 44 of the Australian Constitution
Section 44 of the Australian Constitution is a section of the Constitution of Australia that deals with restrictions on who may become a candidate for election to the Parliament of Australia...
forbids the election of people holding dual citizenship to its parliament.
Education
Ban was educated at MarsdenMarsden, Queensland
Marsden is a suburb of Logan City, Queensland, in Australia.-Notable people:*Cameron Smith*Israel Folau*Chris Sandow*Joseph Tomane*Antonio Winterstein*Leigh Muller-Leisure:...
Primary School and then Marsden State High School
Marsden State High School
Marsden State High School is a secondary school in Logan City, Queensland for students between years 8 and 12. Marsden State High School is located on Muchow Road between the suburbs of Marsden and Waterford West. The school was established in 1987 and—as of 2008—has 1,900...
in Logan City, graduating in 1995. After high school she entered Griffith University's
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
law school
Griffith Law School
The Griffith Law School is a school of Griffith University. The School is spread across three campuses throughout Queensland, Brisbane and the Gold Coast Campus. The Griffith Law School is noted for maintaining a culture of social justice and for its high quality.The Australian government ranks...
and completed a double degree in Law and International Business. Ban was then admitted as a Barrister-at-Law in 2001.
Leg lengthening surgery
In 2002 Ban undertook radical cosmetic surgery to gain 8 cm of height. She travelled to the Russian Ilizarov Scientific Centre for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics in Kurgan, RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
where she was operated on by Dr Constantine Novikov.
Over a period of 5 months Ban was bedridden as her legs were lengthened. The process of lengthening took 12 months. She returned to Australia and talked to the media about her operation under the pseudonym Sara Vornamen in an attempt to hide her identity. Under the name 'Sara Vornamen' Hajnal Ban wrote a book about her surgery, God made me small, Surgery made me Tall.
Brisbane's Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
revealed in April 2009 that Ban was actually Sara Vornamen. Since that time Ban has received world wide attention for her surgery and has been a commentator on issues from sex-discrimination to extra airline charges.
Personal life
Ban married Logan City Councillor Sean Black at Tamborine Mountain on 30 May 2010. Black has acted as her campaign manager.2004 - 2008, Shire of Beaudesert Council
Hajnal Ban was first elected as Councillor for Division 4 in the former Shire of Beaudesert on 27 March 2004 at the age of 26 where she significantly outpolled her four male opponents. She was the youngest ever councillor to be elected in the shire and the only Barrister. She was elected to council as an independent and had no previous political party affiliation. She joined the National Party in 2006.She was Chairperson of the Shire's Planning and Development Committee from April 2004, until December 2005 when she was removed from the post, a move spearheaded by Councillor John Fronis, over her opposition to the State's decision to designate the North McLean Enterprise Precinct in the South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
Regional Plan, which would have placed heavy industry in the middle of her rural residential division.
2007 Federal election
In the November 2007 Federal Election Ban stood as the National Party candidate for the seat of Forde. Although she worked hard at her campaign and was credited with achieving a larger than expected swing, Ban only achieved 12.2% of the primary vote. The Forde electorate's voter base is heavily urban, so it was always unlikely the electorate would have voted for a National Party candidate over their urban Conservative sister party, the LiberalsLiberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
.
2008 Local Government Elections
In July 2007, the Queensland LaborAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Government
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
announced widespread reform to local government. The major reform was to amalgamate many councils, and Beaudesert was included in the process. Half of the Shire was amalgamated with the Shire of Boonah
Shire of Boonah
The Shire of Boonah was a Local Government Area located in South East Queensland, Australia, about southwest of Brisbane. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1880 until its merger with parts of the Shire of Beaudesert and City of Ipswich to form the Scenic Rim Region on 15 March...
to create the Scenic Rim Region while the other half was amalgamated with Logan City. Hajnal Ban's entire division was in the transferring area to be amalgamated into Logan City. Her division underwent significant change as it was merged with the neighbouring Division 5 (held by John Fronis, a Labor councillor) to form the new Logan City Division 11. Fronis and Ban subsequently contested the new division at the March 2008 elections, with Ban winning convincingly, even in areas where the Labor vote at state and federal elections has historically been high. Ban achieved 66.06% of the two-candidate-preferred vote to John Fronis' 33.94%.
Post 2008 election
After her election to Logan City Hajnal Ban was elected Chairperson of the Community, Sport and Customer Services Committee but was removed from this position in May 2009 and replaced by a neighbouring urban based councillor, Phil Pidgeon, because of her strong and somewhat outspoken advocacy for the amalgamated areas she represents.Ban formed an alliance with the only other Logan City rural councillor, Sean Black, in late 2008. Together they formed a strong allegiance in council advocating and representing their similar constituencies. Ban and Black married in 2010.
2010 LNP candidacy for Wright
After questions were raised by Queensland’s Adult Guardian about her administration of an elderly man’s estateEstate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
, the Liberal National Party revoked their endorsement of Ban as their candidate for the federal division of Wright on 7 June 2010. The LNP claim the Adult Guardian’s questions were never disclosed in her vetting committee. Ban voluntarily surrendered her Power of Attorney on 2 July 2010 after which proceedings in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) were ceased.
Ban hit out at the Liberal National Party for taking pre-emptive action against her despite tribunal matters being settled within a month. She went on to say men in the LNP hierarchy were never comfortable with a woman being preselected in a winnable seat.
Policies on Gaming Machines
Hajnal Ban is an anti-pokiesSlot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
campaigner and continues to advocate for the reduction in the number of gaming machines within the Logan City local government area. Ban voted prominently in several ballots to remove Deputy Mayor of Logan, Russell Lutton, who is a pro-pokies councillor. Lutton has since fought back criticising Ban, including references to her leg lengthening story.