About Frank
Frank Sartor was born in the Riverina district of NSW and raised in the town of Yenda, along with seven siblings. He left Yenda in 1970 to attend University in Sydney.
Frank Sartor became involved in community issues in 1980 whilst living in Newtown. He and other local residents became concerned about the competence of the then local Council. Together with other locals he formed the South Sydney Residents Action Group, joined a number of community organisations and published a regular newsletter throughout South Sydney. The trigger for the formation of the Action Group was objections to a highly inappropriate Meriton development in Newtown.
In 1984 he stood for the City of Sydney Council as an independent and the team he led easily won Newtown Ward. In March 1987 the City of Sydney Council was dismissed. It was reconstituted on the 3rd January 1989.
Frank Sartor was elected to the new City of Sydney Council in December 1988, again as an independent. In September 1991 he stood again for the City of Sydney Council and the team lead by him topped the poll. One week later he was elected Lord Mayor of Sydney by a majority of the Councilors. He was the first independent to be elected Lord Mayor in over 80 years.
Frank discovered that the Council was in a very poor state both financially and organizationally. There were 22 large holes in the ground in the city centre due to the recession of 1989/90. The then Fahey State Government sought to dismiss the Council but was thwarted by the NSW Parliament.
Despite the dire state of the Council and of the City itself, Frank Sartor worked tirelessly to reform the City organisation, improve services and infrastructure, and get the City moving. He also participated in the Sydney Olympic Bid, which Sydney won in September 1993.
He gained further support amongst his Council colleagues and was easily re-elected as Lord Mayor in September 1992, 1993, and 1994 – a total of four successive annual terms.
In May 1995 the newly elected Carr Labor Government decided to amend the law to make the election of Lord Mayor of Sydney a popular election of all the voters within the City of Sydney.
In September 1995, Frank Sartor was re-elected Lord Mayor of Sydney by the voters of the City of Sydney. Frank was re-elected as Lord Mayor for a further four-year term, with an increased majority, in September 1999.
In 2000 Frank participated in the hosting of the Sydney Olympics as Mayor of the Host city.
During the Sydney Olympics Frank Sartor became Sydney’s longest serving Lord Mayor, eclipsing Harry Jensen’s previous nine-year service in the 1950’s.
In 2002 Frank Sartor was invited by Premier Carr to contest the electorate of Rockdale in the State Parliament for the Labor party. He joined the Labor Party and in November was preselected. In March 2003 he won the seat of Rockdale winning every polling booth in his electorate.
In early April 2003 he resigned from the position as Lord Mayor of Sydney after eleven and a half years. He was immediately elected to the Carr Ministry and appointed Minister for Energy and Utilities, Minister for Science and Medical Research, Assistant Minister for Health (Cancer) and Assistant Minister for the Arts.
In August 2005 Frank Sartor was appointed Minister for Planning, Minister for Redfern Waterloo, Minister for Science and Medical Research, and Assistant Minister for Health (Cancer) by Premier Iemma.
When the Iemma Government was re-elected in March 2007, Frank Sartor retained the portfolios of Planning and Redfern Waterloo, and also became Minister for the Arts.
In November 2009, Frank Sartor was appointed Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) by Premier Keneally.
In April 2006, Frank Sartor married Monique Flannery. In December 2007, Frank and Monique’s son William was born and in March 2010, Monique gave birth to their first daughter, Isabella. She is Frank’s fourth child, the other two boys Oliver and Jack are in the twenties.