Meet Maria

I’m a local Divison 9 resident who has a family with a supportive partner, two teenage children and a cheeky schnauzer. Truly independent I’ve never been aligned to any political party. This means, I am not beholden to anyone other than the community I live in and represent.

I support protecting and enhancing our natural environment and beaches, sustainable development, ensuring our fair share of rates is spent on services and infrastructure in Division 9, pushing for better active transport and public transport, providing better waste services and overcoming roadblocks to do so, and reviewing our rates categories to simplify it and ensure it is equitable. If you’d like further information, please read my Issues page to read about how I believe our council can improve and how these improvements could be brought about.

Biography

I get asked a lot of questions about my background, so if you’re interested here it is. I am a first generation Australian of mixed European heritage (Spanish & Croatian). Hence the Spanish name that is difficult for some to pronounce. My sister and I grew up in a blue-collar suburb of Logan. This environment, combined with our parent’s humble backgrounds meant we grew up knowing how to pitch in, work hard and get the job done. More recently, we discovered an older sister, who is half Spanish and half First Nations! It’s been a beautiful time getting to know more about each other and our backgrounds.

After completing High School, I enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a Signals Operator and served our country for 11 years. Signals Intelligence was a tri-service job where I worked alongside Army and Navy personnel. Those were some of my fondest years and I am proud of the amazing, diverse and at times, tough experiences that I was exposed to.

In 1998, I settled in the Noosa region and commenced my studies at the University of the Sunshine Coast. I completed a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in Marketing and Management.

While studying, I worked in an advertising agency, and two National Property Development companies. At Lensworth Kawana Waters, my mentor taught me to embrace and enhance environmental principles at every turn. She demonstrated that good things can be done from within an industry that typically removes environment for housing and roads.

I moved to Coolum and applied those principles at my next role with Lend Lease at the Hyatt Coolum project. The vision for Hyatt Coolum was to maintain the relaxed nature of the resort, implement environmental initiatives, create opportunities for the wider community to utilise the resort, give back to local organisations and keep resort development low-key while solving the economic challenges of the resort. When I left this role to commence maternity leave, the resort was at its most successful and it was heartbreaking to see its subsequent demise and current status.

My first child was born in 2006 and I was fortunate enough to give up full-time work and become the primary care-giver. My second child was born in 2008 and I undertook some part-time consulting.

In 2011, we moved to the Sunshine Coast Council’s portion of Peregian Beach. A rural residential area that offers the best of both worlds – acreage living with a hinterland feel that is also cycling distance to the beach. My family live, study and work in the Sunshine Coast Region and continue to enjoy the lifestyle of this unique region.

The Sunshine Coast has changed a lot since 1998 and I guess I have as well. At this stage of life, with added maturity and experience, I have taken more of an interest in the decisions made by local government and I had concerns for the future of the region. The two choices available are to do nothing and continue to bemoan the decisions made by council, or proactively try to do something about it.

So I put myself in the running and was very grateful to the grassroots community for electing me to represent their interests. I’ve been instrumental in changing policies relating to transparency of information, community consultation and community leasing. I’ve ensured Division 9 received it’s fair share of capital works projects and services. I’ve advocated at state level for improvements to state roads, bridges and public transport services. I’ve successfully put forward motions that have been endorsed by majority of Qld Councils, to lobby the State Governments to make changes to legislation for the betterment of our communities.

I’ve made change and know there is more to do.
I’m up to the task and get things done.