Representatives > Frank Sartor

Frank Sartor

Francesco Ernest (Frank) Sartor (1951-   ) was Lord Mayor of Sydney from September 1991 to March 2003, then elected to the Legislative Assembly. He retired from politics in 2011.

Sartor graduated from the University of Sydney in chemical engineering and accountancy. He began his political career in Newtown as a community activist, publishing a newspaper and running a resident action group. In 1983, as the Labor Party’s grip faltered, he was elected as an Independent to the merged South Sydney and Sydney City Council. In 1987, the Council was sacked, but he was elected again in 1989, as Independents ousted members of the main political parties. As an Independent he was Lord Mayor from 1991 to 2003.

During this era in Ultimo and Pyrmont Sartor also chaired the Central Sydney Planning Committee and was wedged between State and federal governments determined on “urban renewal” and residents fearful of eviction or the loss of their familiar environment. The precinct committees he created, and frequent consultations with residents could not reconcile these forces, and he made bitter enemies as well as friends in the process.

In 2003, Sartor joined the ALP, won the safe seat of Rockdale and held several ministries before he retired.

Related Items

• Representing Pyrmont in the City of Sydney

Further Reading

• Frank Sartor, The Fog on the Hill: how Labor lost its way

• Sydney's Aldermen: Frank Ernest Sartor

• Wikipedia: Frank Sartor