Read the complete write-up of Stuart Robert net worth, salary, biography, age, height, family, parents, wife, children as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Stuart Robert is an Australian Liberal Party politician appointed as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in his Ministerial reshuffle in March 2021. This promotion followed Robert’s appointment as Minister for Government Services and the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Fadden, on the Northern Gold Coast since 2007.
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.
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 the candidacy of Scott Morrison for the leadership of the Liberal party. Robert was later appointed as Assistant Treasurer in the first Morrison Ministry. He is regarded as one of Prime Minister Morrison’s closest confidants. He also sits on a number of Cabinet committees.
Early life
| Name | Stuart Robert |
| Net Worth | $7 million |
| Profession | Politician, Businessman |
| Height | 1.83m |
| Age | 51 years |
Stuart Rowland Robert was born December 11, 1970(age 51 years) in Victoria, Australia. He spent his early years growing up on a sugar cane farm in Bundaberg, Queensland. He was educated at Rockhampton Grammar School where, at the age of 17, he secured a scholarship to the Australian Defence Force Academy as an Army Officer Cadet. 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.
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. The latter, based on Thursday Island, was at the time the largest indigenous unit in the Defence Force. It was also during this time that Robert completed his master’s degrees, mostly part-time.
A vast majority of Robert’s military career was spent working within military intelligence and security, and he worked his way to the rank of captain. That included a four-month tour of duty with the peace monitoring force in Bougainville following the civil war.
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
Stuart Robert joined the Liberal Party in 1991. 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 [was] governed for all Australia and not just for sectional interests became self-evident.”
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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 to 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. Following his support for Scott Morrison’s successful bid for the Prime Ministership in August 2018, Robert was appointed as Assistant Treasurer in the first Morrison Ministry.
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 following the Coalition’s re-election in May 2019.
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. When asked why Minister Robert had been promoted the Prime Minister cited Robert’s successful tenure in his previous role.
National Disability Insurance Scheme
In his role as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Mr Robert progressed its implementation. In June 2019, in response to delays and backlogs for children with disabilities in accessing Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) supports through the NDIS Mr 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.
In the 2020 Federal Budget Treasurer Josh Frydenberg noted over 400,000 Australians were being supported through the NDIS. News coverage in January 2021 noted 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 NDIS Minister Stuart Robert 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 Minister Robert said he would press ahead with introducing legislative amendments to parliament after a court ruled sex services were not excluded under the 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
At the outset of his role as Minister for Government Services Mr Robert established Services Australia. In July 2019 he appointed Mr Martin Hoffman to lead a task force to develop a strategic plan to deliver the reform to government service delivery. While announcing the taskforce Mr Robert said:
“In those important moments when Australians reach out for government services they rightly expect a simple and seamless interaction. Services Australia will be outcomes-focused and will put in place the right structure needed to deliver that experience. ‘Whether Australians are accessing government services digitally, in person or over the phone, in the future I want Services Australia to deliver a similar experience to what Australians are used to when dealing with everyday services, such as banking and shopping” Minister 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. Minister 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 trialled 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 Minister Robert lead Services Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020 National Cabinet closed large sections of the Australian economy driving a high demand for social supports and saw thousands of people queue outside Centrelinks to apply for government payments. Minister Robert said in response Services Australia made impressive strides in process simplification and digital processing to adapt to the demand.
Minister Robert said: “This included enabling people to establish their identity online, providing customer reference numbers via myGov and introducing a simplified onl ine claim form, which people can complete in about 20 minutes, as opposed to the previous average of about 55 minutes,” “Australians can now obtain a CRN and apply for JobSeeker all online through myGov, something successive governments have been trying to deliver for years. Services Australia has delivered this in just four weeks.”
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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. Thanks to helping from staff from across the Australian Public Service, the agency has granted financial assistance to over 800,000 Australians who have lost their jobs.
On Sunday 7 February 2021 Minister 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.
Minister Robert said: “In preparation for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Services Australia has made critical enhancements to the Australian Immunisation Register, including increased system capacity so more customers can access their information on the register at the same time, new AIR functionality to capture more detailed information about vaccines given, and updating immunisation history statements to show all COVID-19 vaccine doses,” he said. ”We will continue to improve our systems throughout the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to support a faster return to normal life for Australians. This includes making it faster and easier to securely access proof of COVID-19 vaccination, which could include improvements in how Australians store or access their immunisation history statement.”
Future of Government Services
In December 2020 Minister 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. Minister 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.
In February 2021 Minister Robert visited Services Australia’s Virtual Service Centre pilot saying: “The pilot is seeing excellent results and it is an innovative approach to service delivery I would like to see expanded to ensure Australians can access the services they rely on, on their terms,” he said…Services Australia staff are doing an extraordinary job through a difficult period and the Virtual Service Centre pilot is an example of how staff are meeting Australians where they are to get the help they need in a COVID world.”
Previous Policy stances
Robert is an advocate of reforming the indexation rules surrounding military superannuation in both the Defence Force Retirements Benefits scheme and the Defence Force Retirement & Death Benefits scheme. He has spoken in Parliament on a number of occasions to argue that these indexation rules should reflect the “unique nature of military service”. He has stated that such service deserves a superannuation scheme with fair indexation that is “indexed in the same way as the age pension and service pensions for those aged 55 and over”. Robert has also criticised Labor and the Australian Greens for their lack of policy in this area.
In 2012 Labor sought to remove the entitlement from currently serving members of the Australian Defence Force who are single which allows them one free annual trip home. Robert argued against removing this entitlement.
Robert believes the realities of war pose different kinds of physical challenges “On a route fitness assessment you may be forced to carry 25 kg”…”But can you carry that weight when you haven’t slept for days? Can you carry that weight after parachuting in the rain and landing in the mud?”
He has also rejected comparisons from critics who point to countries like Israel, which has women in frontline roles, stating that Israel has regional threats that cannot be translated to Australia. Robert further said that women in such positions pose a security risk as hostages, stating that male soldiers would react to female soldiers being tortured differently, potentially endangering troops or causing them to reveal state secrets. “The attitude with men [in capture] is just ‘Suck it in and welcome to captivity,’ but if they watching a woman suffer like that, it’s a whole different ball game.”
Controversies
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 a friend of his, as well as being 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 (DFAT) 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.
Robodebt
Stuart Robert was criticised for his involvement in establishing the controversial Robodebt scheme during his time as minister for government services. The scheme saw hundreds of thousands of people issued with computer-generated debt notices, some of which made demands for payment from people who did not owe the Government any money and led to a mammoth $1.23 billion refund and compensation settlement in November 2020.
Robert defended Robodebt until it was found unlawful by Australian courts in 2020, which ordered the government to return $721 million in returned welfare payments.
Crime and Corruption Commission – Operation Belcarra
In March 2017, it was revealed that Robert would appear at a public hearing of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission named Operation Belcarra, inquiring into the possibly illegal conduct of candidates in some local government elections. It was alleged that some candidates had formed an undeclared group and provided electoral funding and financial disclosure return that was false or misleading. The Crime and Corruption Commission found it would “not be in the public interest” to take any further action.
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In 2017, it was revealed that GMT Group, a company that Robert had founded, had been awarded government contracts worth millions of dollars. This may have meant that, at past elections, he had been ineligible for election to Parliament under Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia; Robert’s situation had similarities to that of Bob Day, who had been disqualified under s. 44. However, because Robert had been re-elected to Parliament after relinquishing his interests in the company, there was no possibility of the previous elections being challenged in the High Court.
It has also been reported that Robert’s parents were listed as the directors of his company for six years without their knowledge. Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigated the claims.
Incorrect claims of a cyberattack on the MyGov system
In March 2020, during the Australian coronavirus pandemic, the government’s digital welfare platform, MyGov, suffered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack as thousands of people were logging on to register for welfare services. Robert claimed in a press conference that it was not due to the large number of people who are unemployed and trying to log into MyGov to register for Centrelink but was due to a DDoS attack – where a service is targeted and attempted to be overwhelmed in traffic until it becomes inaccessible to regular users. “MyGov has not been offline, it’s simply suffered from a distributed denial-of-service attack this morning,” he said. Later he was forced to retract the claim, with commentators incredulous that the Minister had said ‘my bad’ during the retraction.
Wife
Stuart Robert is married to his longtime girlfriend Chantelle, they had their wedding in 1996. The couple have have three sons. However, in October 2018, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he had asked the Special Minister of State, Alex Hawke, to investigate Mr Robert’s internet bills. Mr Robert’s internet usage is funded by taxpayers and concerns were raised about excessive bills. Although the plan had been approved by the Department of Finance, the Department said that they had warned Robert ‘multiple times’ about the unusually high costs of his home internet. Robert voluntarily repaid $37,975 of claimed allowance.
Stuart Robert net worth
What is Stuart Robert net worth? Stuart Robert net worth is estimated at around $7 million. His salary is around $405,000, his main source of income is his private investments business. He is one of the richest politicians in Australia. However, in October 2018, a newspaper revealed Robert had joined a business selling cryotherapy devices. The business founder, also a director of the company, was a convicted rapist who at the time was before Queensland’s highest court on appeal against the conviction. Robert said he did not realise the background of the company’s founder and director until contacted by the media. Robert resigned from his director’s position after two and a half weeks. Cryo Australia was liquidated shortly thereafter and Robert reportedly ‘lost a huge sum of money.