Frank Sartor

Australian politician (born 1951)

Francesco Ernest Sartor (born 9 November 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and 2011. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Rockdale for the Labor Party between 2003 and 2011. Sartor has previously been Minister for Planning, Redfern Waterloo and the Arts, and Minister for Water and Utilities in the Iemma and Carr governments. Before being elected to the New South Wales Parliament, Sartor was the second longest serving Lord Mayor of Sydney, after Clover Moore, having held the post for nearly 12 years from September 1991 to March 2003. Sartor retired from politics at the 2011 state election.

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 1976–83 he was employed as a chemical engineer and in management roles by Colgate Palmolive and oil company Total Australia Ltd. 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.

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 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 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. 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.

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. with reports of internal polling by Labor revealing that Sartor was one of the government's most unpopular ministers. Sartor contested a Labor right faction ballot and narrowly lost the ballot to Kristina Keneally, who was then made Premier. He is now married to Monique Sartor, an interior decorator and lives in Glebe a suburb of Sydney.