Stuart Robert
Stuart Rowland Robert is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business from 2021 to 2022, following his appointment as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2019. He was also appointed Acting Minister for Education and Youth in December 2021 and was the Member of Parliament for Fadden upon winning the seat at the 2007 federal election, until his resignation in May 2023.
Robert served in the Abbott Ministry as the Assistant Minister for Defence from 18 September 2013 until 21 September 2015. Following a leadership spill in the preceding week, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appointed Robert to the roles of Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC. Following an investigation into a possible conflict of interest, Robert announced his resignation from the Ministry on 12 February 2016.
Robert later served as Assistant Treasurer from August 2018 and in 2021 was appointed to Cabinet as Employment Minister, a role in which he served until the May 2022 general election, when the Coalition lost power. He resigned from Parliament in May 2023.
Background and early years
Robert was born in Victoria and spent his early years growing up on a sugar cane farm in Bundaberg, Queensland. He was educated at Rockhampton Grammar School where he secured a scholarship to the Australian Defence Force Academy as an Army Officer Cadet at the age of 17. Following the Academy, Robert attended the Royal Military College Duntroon.He completed a Masters in Business Administration at Central Queensland University, a Masters in Information Technology at the Queensland University of Technology and graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours.
Early career
Military career
Robert's professional career began in the military where he served for twelve years in units including the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment and the 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment. It was also during this time that Robert completed his master's degrees, mostly part-time.The majority of Robert's military career was spent working within military intelligence and security, including a four-month tour of duty with the peace monitoring force in Bougainville following the civil war. Robert reached the rank of captain.
Business career
After leaving the army in 1999, Robert founded the IT services firm GMT Recruitment, with colleague Andrew Chantler. GMT Recruitment subsequently grew to be a nationwide company and was named a Business Review Weekly "Fast 100" award winner in 2006. The list, which recognised the fastest-growing 100 companies in Australia, again featured GMT Recruitment in both 2007 and 2008.Political career
In 1991, Robert joined the Liberal Party. As he later explained to parliament, "I was motivated to action as I witnessed the diabolical consequences of the recession which, apparently, 'we had to have', the crippling interest rates and the very high level of industrial disputes which so adversely impacted on my family and many surrounding families. Through all of this turbulence, the urgency to ensure that this place governed for all Australia and not just for sectional interests became self-evident." In 2007 Robert was elected to the House of Representatives representing the seat of Fadden. Two years later, on 8 December 2009, he was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence. On 14 September 2010 he was promoted to Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel.After the 2013 federal election Robert was appointed the Assistant Minister for Defence in the Abbott Government. After the change of prime minister in September 2015, he was appointed Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC with effect from 21 September 2015.
In August 2018, Peter Dutton unsuccessfully challenged Malcolm Turnbull for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Leadership tension continued to build, and the party voted to hold a second ballot on 24 August, with Turnbull choosing not to stand. During this time Robert is widely reported to have worked to support for the candidacy of Scott Morrison for the leadership of the Liberal party. Robert was later appointed as Assistant Treasurer in the first Morrison Ministry.
Following the Coalition's re-election in May 2019 Robert was promoted to Cabinet and appointed as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Government Services - two areas identified as key priorities by Prime Minister Morrison for his Government.
During his time in Parliament, Robert was aligned with the Centre-Right faction of the Liberal Party.
National Disability Insurance Scheme
In June 2019, in response to delays and backlogs for children with disability in accessing Early Childhood Early Intervention supports through the NDIS, Robert directed the National Disability Insurance Agency to provide standardised interim plans to children who have been found eligible for the NDIS, but who are likely to experience a wait time of greater than 50 days.News coverage in January 2021 noted that "NDIS waiting times have dropped after concerted efforts from the Federal Government and the National Disability Insurance Agency". The report found 85 per cent of NDIS participants rating their planning experience as “very good” or “good”. A spokesman for the government said the Federal Government had made improving access and planning decision timeframes a priority, and had made “significant improvements since May 2019”.
In February 2021, Robert pressed ahead with introducing legislative amendments to parliament after a court ruled sex services were not excluded under law from being taxpayer funded through the NDIS saying:
“NDIS participants can still freely use their own money, whether that is through government support or earned income, to spend on whatever they want. All we are saying is taxpayer NDIS funds were never intended to be used in this way and we'll be ensuring this does not happen again.”
Government Services
Services Australia
As Minister for Government Services Robert oversaw the establishment of Services Australia. In July 2019 he appointed Martin Hoffman to lead a taskforce to develop a strategic plan to deliver the reform to government service delivery. Robert appointed Rebecca Skinner as CEO of Services Australia in March 2020.Support for Black Summer Bushfires
Services Australia staff deployed as part of the emergency response to the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires. Robert told Parliament that Services Australia had provided support deploying more than 20 mobile support teams into dozens of hard-to-reach communities, and delivered millions of dollars via thousands of disaster payments to fire-affected residents. He noted Services Australia also successfully trialed facial verification technology to provide support to those who had lost identity documents.Government Services Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
As Minister for Government Services, Robert led Services Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.In March 2020 the National Cabinet closed large sections of the Australian economy driving a high demand for social supports and saw thousands of people queue outside Centrelink offices to apply for government payments.
That month, the government's digital welfare platform, MyGov, experienced an outage as thousands of people were logging on to register for welfare services. Robert incorrectly claimed in a press conference that it due to a DDoS attack rather than the large number of people trying to log into MyGov. He corrected himself later that day.
Following a surge of 12,000 staff drawn from across the Australian Public Service and service partners, Services Australia processed as many JobSeeker claims within roughly 50 days as it normally would in two years. The agency granted financial assistance to over 800,000 Australians.
On Sunday 7 February 2021 Robert announced Services Australia would ensure Australians would be able to tap and display COVID-19 “proof of vaccination” certificates on their phones or carry hard copies with them.
Future of Government Services
In December 2020 Robert announced a refurbished Services Australia Service Centre in Western Australia would be used to trial a “new era” of government service delivery. The Perth City Service Centre would offer a new “welcoming environment” that has been designed specifically to help older Australians who need additional support. Robert said the new centre would offer upgraded self-service facilities and digital support, appointment-based services, and specialist services made available through video chat.Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business
In March 2021 Robert was promoted to the role of Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business. He also retained responsibility for whole-of-government technology through the Digital Transformation Agency.Resignation
On 6 May 2023 Robert announced that he would resign from parliament, which he submitted on 18 May 2023. A by-election for the seat of Fadden was called. Robert did not return to Canberra for the remainder of his time in office. He quit parliament four months before a parliament committee referred him to the National Anti-Corruption Committee over allegations he misused his political office to promote a friends’ business.Controversies
China trip and resignation from ministry
On 18 August 2014, Robert attended an event in Beijing, China, at which a mining deal between Australian company Nimrod Resources and Chinese state-controlled corporation China Minmetals was signed. In February 2016, when details of the trip were released, the Opposition called Robert's presence at the signing "inappropriate", because Nimrod chairman Paul Marks was both a friend of his and a substantial donor to the Liberal Party. Robert claimed that the trip was in a "private capacity", and not official government business.In a subsequent Senate Estimates Committee hearing, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated that the department had not been informed of the trip until Robert had returned, and that it appeared that Chinese officials at the event were under the impression that Robert was present as an Australian government minister. Prime Minister Turnbull asked his department secretary, Martin Parkinson, to investigate and report on the circumstances of Robert's visit to China to determine if he had breached ministerial standards of conduct.
On 12 February 2016, Robert announced his resignation from the First Turnbull Ministry as part of a broader reshuffle triggered by the resignation of Andrew Robb and Warren Truss.