From ‘10-pound pom’ to church leader
SUE Baynes was born in the north of England. She and her family describe themselves as “among the last of the “£10 Poms” to arrive in the “Lucky Country”.
Her family settled in Adelaide. Ms Baynes worked as a high school teacher for 16 years before relocating to the Coast with her husband Rodger and their two children in January 1997.
Ms Baynes and her husband attended Rhema Bible College.
The pair graduated at the end of 1998. They sold their property in Robina for $772,000 in mid-2017 and went on to purchase a Bonogin property — a four-bedroom acreage home — the same year.
The couple have been together for more than three decades. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.
Ms Baynes first heard about the controversial Seven Mountain Mandate (7M) in 2007 at a religious conference. She was then pastor at Destiny Church at Burleigh Heads.
She previously said she explained the evangelical ideology to then mayoral candidate Tom Tate in 2011.
Ms Baynes has gone on to attend multiple public events with the Mayor, including overseeing his baptism in Evandale Lake in 2018 with husband Rodger.
In 2016, she launched her own political bid for the Queensland senate, representing the very conservative party Family First. The anti-abortion, anti-assisted dying and anti-gay marriage party disbanded in 2017.
Her two attempts to gain political office were unsuccessful. The 62-yearold pastor following her council appointment is now regarded as the “apostolic leader” on the Gold Coast.