Frank Sartor

Early life

Sartor was born in Yenda near Griffith, New South Wales. His migrant parents named him Francesco Ernest Sartor, but he decided life would be easier if he called himself Frank. He attended St Therese's (Catholic) Primary School, Yenda, followed by Griffith High School. His mother died of melanoma when Sartor was 16.

He attended the University of Sydney, residing at St John's College and graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, and a later qualification in accounting. From 1976-1983 he was employed as a chemical engineer and in management roles by Colgate-Palmolive and oil company Total Australia Ltd.

Local government

Sartor served on the Council of the City of Sydney from 1984 to 2003, and was Lord Mayor of Sydney for almost 12 years, from September 1991 to April 2003. During his time on the council he served as Vice-President of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Chairman of the Sydney Festival, Chairman of the Central Sydney Planning Committee, and Board Member of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

During his tenure as Lord Mayor, unfounded claims were made in an effort to discredit Sartor, in relation to alleged sexual harassment, by Liberal politician, John Hannaford. These accusations were unfounded and never supported with any evidence, and were never raised in a court of law nor raised by Hannaford outside the protection of parliamentary privilege. Hannaford subsequently failed to provide any evidence to support his allegations, and was in turn investigated by the NSW Parliament for abuse of parliamentary privilege.

Upon the departure of Sartor as Mayor, he was succeeded by Deputy Mayor, Lucy Turnbull, who served the remainder of the term between 2003 and 2004. Turnbull did not seek election by popular vote.

New South Wales politics

Sartor first sought to enter state politics in 1988, when he contested the inner-city Electoral district of McKell as an Independent, running against the endorsed Labor candidate, Sandra Nori. Sartor came second, winning 23.5% of the primary vote and 43.4% of the two-candidate preferred vote In 2003, Sartor joined the NSW Labor Party and entered parliament after successfully contesting the safe Labor seat of Rockdale at the 2003 State election and was subsequently sworn in as Minister for Energy and Water Utilities, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) and Minister for Science and Medical Research.

Anti-cancer reforms

As Assistant Health Minister, Sartor was responsible for the formation of the Cancer Institute NSW in 2003 and the introduction of smoking bans in NSW pubs and clubs in 2004, reforms he would later describe as among his proudest achievements. Many of these achievements were driven by personal tragedy and loss of his former partner, Hephzibah Tintner, and his mother, to cancer. In his final speech to parliament, Sartor broke down when talking about their loss, and how it influenced his political career. In his time as a Minister in all of his various portfolios, Sartor became known for his blunt and often crude language, but also his drive to improve cancer survival rates. However his smoking bans drew vehement criticism from publicans who argued they would harm profitability, and from anti-cancer groups which said they did not go far enough. In announcing his resignation, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally paid tribute to Mr Sartor’s work as Australia’s first cancer minister. As Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) he oversaw restrictions on the retailing of cigarettes in NSW, including forcing them to be kept under the counter.

Water Utilities

As Minister for Water Utilities, Sartor introduced a number of sweeping changes to the water supply system, and championed water conservation, recycling and innovation in Sydney, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. Sartor's changes in water and energy included: oversighting the introduction of an energy and water sustainability index for new homes; implementing a government energy and water savings fund to support innovative ideas to reduce water and energy consumption; encouraging the uptake of water conservation rebates, household devices and rainwater tanks; and requiring all local councils in the Sydney metropolitan area to develop water savings plans. Sartor also oversaw the development of water infrastructure projects - including large recycling projects in Sydney. He also released the Metropolitan Water Plan which first envisaged the potential for a desalination plant to supplement Sydney's water supplies. After Sartor left the Water portfolio and became Planning Minister, despite an extremely vocal anti-desalination campaign in Kurnell during the 2007 State election, the government was returned. Desalination was Labor policy established by Sartor, whereas Opposition Liberal policy advocated the human consumption of recycled sewage. Sartor and the NSW Government rejected and ruled out human consumption of recycled effluent in Sydney.

Redfern Waterloo

In 2005 Premier Bob Carr appointed Sartor as the first Minister for Redfern Waterloo overseeing the Redfern Waterloo Authority and exercising planning powers over an area of inner Sydney. In this role he invoked the ire of the Redfern indigenous population with his rejection of a plan by the Aboriginal Housing Company to redevelop "The Block" and for suggesting on Koori Radio that the Company's chairman, Mick Mundine should "Get off your backside ... and bring your black arse in here to talk about it." Sartor later apologised for this remark. The creation of the Redfern Waterloo portfolio was greeted with some cynicism given the long history of similar attempts to rejuvenate the area. Despite this, the Authority was able to deliver urban renewal projects for a number of derelict sites including the former Redfern Public School and a substantial redevelopment of the Australian Technology Park to incorporate headquarters for the Sydney television station Channel Seven. As part of Sartor's broader reforms in the area, the Australian Technology Park was established, and due to the reforms established by Mr Sartor, the NSW Government is able to continue active investigations into better use of disused land in the inner-west, such as the former Eveleigh railway workshops and disused industrial land.

Minister for Planning

Upon the appointment of Morris Iemma as Premier in late 2005, Sartor relinquished the Energy and Water portfolios and was sworn in as Minister for Planning. His administration was marked by a series of planning reforms to reduce the concurrence and consultation processes required for major developments in NSW. In a column in the Sydney Morning Herald, journalist and former City of Sydney Councillor Elizabeth Farrelly was scathing of Sartor for his support for advertising billboards along NSW roadways, his approval of the Anvil Hill Coal Mine, and for his moves to reduce the planning powers of local government.

Sartor was re-elected as Member for Rockdale at the 2007 State election with a slightly reduced majority, and was sworn in as Minister for Planning, Minister for Redfern Waterloo and Minister for the Arts.

In 2008 the NSW Greens demanded a Royal Commission into alleged links between Sartor's planning approvals and Labor Party donations by major developers. Sartor denied his planning decisions had been influenced by developer donations and threatened legal action against media outlets which repeated the claims. In 2009, Sartor was damaged by a Land and Environment Court judgment that described a decision he made to allow development at Catherine Hill Bay by a political donor, Rose Group, in exchange for conservation land as being influenced by a "land bribe". On announcing his resignation, Sartor described his time as planning minister as the most difficult of his career.

On 7 September 2008 Frank Sartor was defeated in a ballot for ministerial positions and returned to the backbench with reports of internal polling by Labor revealling that Sartor was one of the government's most unpopular ministers.

Minister for Climate Change and the Environment

In December 2009, a no confidence motion was passed; and Nathan Rees stood down as Leader of NSW Labor. Sartor contested a Labor right faction ballot and narrowly lost the ballot to Kristina Keneally, who was then made Premier. Keneally returned Sartor to the NSW Cabinet; appointed to the role of Minister for Climate Change and the Environment. He was also returned to his old role of Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer), an area of personal interest and commitment.

Personal life

The dancer Hephzibah Tintner was his partner until her death from cancer in 2001. She was the daughter of the Austrian-born orchestral conductor Georg Tintner.