27 Facts About Hajnal Ban

Hajnal Ban is an Australian lawyer, author, and former conservative politician, who was convicted of charges that prevented her being elected to public office between 2012 and 2016.

Hajnal Ban was elected on 15 March 2008 a councillor for Logan City but was disqualified from 27 March 2012.

Hajnal Ban was an unsuccessful National Party candidate for the federal seat of Forde, south of Brisbane, at the 2007 federal election.

Hajnal Ban won Liberal National Party selection for the newly created federal seat of Wright in November 2009, but subsequently lost endorsement following allegations she mismanaged the funds of a 65-year-old man.

Hajnal Ban published her experiences in the book God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall under the pseudonym Sara Vornamen.

On gaining pre-selection for a federal seat, Hajnal Ban relinquished her Israeli citizenship as Section 44 of the Australian Constitution forbids the election of people holding dual citizenship.

Hajnal Ban was educated at Marsden Primary School and then Marsden State High School in Logan City, graduating in 1995.

Hajnal Ban was first elected as Councillor for Division 4 in the Shire of Beaudesert on 27 March 2004 at the age of 26, when she significantly out-polled her four male opponents.

Hajnal Ban was the youngest-ever councillor to be elected in the shire and the only barrister.

Hajnal Ban was elected as an independent and had no previous political party affiliation, but joined the National Party in 2006.

Hajnal Ban was chairperson of the Shire's Planning and Development Committee from April 2004 to December 2005, when she was removed from the post, in 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.

Hajnal Ban's division underwent significant change when it was merged with the neighbouring Division 5 to form the new Logan City Division 11.

Fronis and Hajnal Ban subsequently contested the new division at the March 2008 elections, with Hajnal Ban winning convincingly, even in areas where the Labor vote at state and federal elections had historically been high.

In late 2008, Hajnal Ban formed an alliance with Sean Black, the only other rural-based councillor, and together they advocated strongly for their similar constituencies.

Hajnal Ban voluntarily surrendered her power of attorney on 2 July 2010, after which proceedings in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal were ceased.

Hajnal Ban claimed the LNP disendorsed her pre-selection because men in the LNP hierarchy were never comfortable with a woman being pre-selected in a winnable seat.

Hajnal Ban originally nominated to run again as councillor for Division 11, but several weeks prior to the election she withdrew from the contest.

Hajnal Ban is an anti-pokies campaigner and continues to advocate for the reduction in the number of gaming machines within the Logan City local government area.

In November 2011, Ban faced criminal charges for allegedly breaching local government financial disclosure laws.

Hajnal Ban lodged an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court in January 2012.

Hajnal Ban was mentored by Brisbane barrister and businessman Russell Tacon.

On 30 May 2010, Hajnal Ban married Logan City Councillor Sean Black, who had acted as her campaign manager.

Hajnal Ban was known as Hajnal Black until they separated in mid-2012.

Hajnal Ban travelled to the Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics in Kurgan, Russia where she was operated on by Dr Constantine Novikov.

Over a period of 5 months Hajnal Ban was bedridden as her legs were lengthened.

Hajnal Ban 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.