Robert Schwarten

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

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

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.

Post-Politics Since retiring from parliament, Schwarten has regularly appeared in the media as a columnist and commentator. On 1 December 2023, the Courier-Mail published an opinion column from Schwarten suggesting Queensland Labor needed "a new model" of leader to replace Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ahead of the 2024 Queensland state election, following poor polling. The column, described as "incendiary" by The Courier-Mail sparked speculation about Ms Palaszczuk's future, which culminated in her resignation on 10 December.