Robert Schwarten

The Honourable Rob Schwarten
Minister for Information and Communication Technology of Queensland
In office 12 October 2006 – 21 February 2011
Premier	Peter Beattie Anna Bligh
Preceded by	Chris Cummins
Succeeded by	Simon Finn
Leader of the House of Queensland
In office 28 July 2005 – 26 March 2009
Premier	Peter Beattie Anna Bligh
Preceded by	Anna Bligh
Succeeded by	Judy Spence
Minister for Racing of Queensland
In office 12 February 2004 – 13 September 2006
Premier	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Peter Beattie acting
Succeeded by	Merged into Public Works
Minister for Public Works of Queensland
In office 29 June 1998 – 21 February 2011
Premier	Peter Beattie Anna Bligh
Preceded by	David Watson
Succeeded by	Simon Finn
Minister for Housing of Queensland
In office 29 June 1998 – 26 March 2009
Premier	Peter Beattie Anna Bligh
Preceded by	David Watson
Succeeded by	Karen Struthers
Shadow Minister for Public Works and Administrative Services
In office 7 October 1997 – 29 June 1998
Leader	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Lorraine Bird
Succeeded by	Bruce Laming
Shadow Minister for Natural Resources
In office 7 October 1997 – 29 June 1998
Leader	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Henry Palaszczuk
Succeeded by	Vince Lester
Shadow Minister for Primary Industries
In office 17 December 1996 – 7 October 1997
Leader	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Bob Gibbs
Succeeded by	Henry Palaszczuk
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services
In office 27 February 1996 – 17 December 1996
Leader	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Brian Littleproud
Succeeded by	Dean Wells
Shadow Minister for Rural Communities
In office 27 February 1996 – 17 December 1996
Leader	Peter Beattie
Preceded by	Trevor Perrett
Succeeded by	Henry Palaszczuk
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Rockhampton
In office 15 July 1995 – 24 March 2012
Preceded by	Paul Braddy
Succeeded by	Bill Byrne
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Rockhampton North
In office 2 December 1989 – 15 July 1995
Preceded by	Les Yewdale
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	Robert Evan Schwarten (1954-10-06) October 6, 1954 Rockhampton, Queensland
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor Party
Spouse	Judith Ann Armstrong
Children	2
Alma mater	Rockhampton State High School
Occupation	Teacher

Robert Evan Schwarten (born 6 October 1954) is an Australian politician.

Early life

Schwarten was born in Rockhampton, and is married with two sons.

Before his entry into politics, he was a teacher and a ministerial advisor to the Deputy Premier.

Political career

From 1985 to 1991 he was an alderman on Rockhampton City Council. A member of the Labor Party, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in 1989 as the member for Rockhampton North, however this seat was abolished in a redistribution ahead of the 1992 election. Schwarten contested the newly created seat of Keppel, but was defeated by Vince Lester of the National Party.

In 1995 he was reelected to parliament, this time as the member for Rockhampton. He was Minister for Public Works and Information and Communication Technology in Anna Bligh's Labor Government. He held the Public Works portfolio from 1998 to 2011. Schwarten stood down from Parliament and was replaced by Bill Byrne, who held the seat for Labor.

Incidents

2000 Labour Day incident

Schwarten drew national media attention when he was involved in a violent scuffle with Craig Brown, the husband of Federal MP Kirsten Livermore, following Rockhampton's Labour Day celebrations in May 2000. Brown lodged a formal complaint with the Queensland Police Service alleging assault occasioning bodily harm, but the complaint was later withdrawn. Premier Peter Beattie described the altercation between Schwarten and Brown as a "robust debate at a Labour Day function". Following the incident, the state Labor government faced several days of the state opposition referring to the incident in Parliament Question Time, where the opposition alleged that the police were ready to charge Schwarten, but held off after learning that both Schwarten and Brown were due to meet with senior Australian Labor Party figures in an attempt to resolve the situation.

2010 restaurant incident

In July 2010, it was reported that Schwarten had become involved in a verbal stoush with other diners at a Rockhampton restaurant. An unnamed customer had told media that Schwarten was swearing, shouting and threatening to fight other customers. However, Schwarten claimed he was provoked. He said while he and his wife Judy were sitting down to a meal, customers began being offensive, verbally attacking him, and upsetting his wife. Judy Schwarten said that she was upset at the incident and claimed her husband had gone over to shake hands with the customers but they shoved him away. The manager of the restaurant apologised to Schwarten following the incident.

2012 ramming incident

In January 2012, 62 year-old Brian John Hillier was charged with three counts of wilful damage after he used his vehicle to deliberately ram the home of Robert Schwarten in the Rockhampton suburb of Park Avenue, and the office of Kirsten Livermore in the Rockhampton CBD. Earlier, Hiller had also rammed another private residence in what was believed to be a case of mistaken identity as the house was located next door to a home belonging to someone with the surname, Livermore.

Police told the Rockhampton Magistrates Court that they had found handwritten notes in Hiller's vehicle of addresses and markings on a street map. Police also said that discovered a litany of large, hand-written anti-government signage strewn along the front fence of Hiller's property at Rockyview, on the northern outskirts of Rockhampton. Hiller applied for bail on 27 January 2012, which the police prosecutor opposed as police believed Hillier may have confronted Schwarten and Livermore under the guise of political activism. The bail application was refused and Hiller was remanded in custody. Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh condemned the actions of the man saying that his behaviour had no place in Australian democracy.