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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-14 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Schwarz, Mr R.G.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:33): I seek the house's indulgence, and your indulgence, sir, to make a few remarks about the life and contribution of the late Rob Schwarz PSM. I had the fortunate privilege of being the treasurer of this state and working with some of the finest public servants who ever served the people of South Australia. Unfortunately, many South Australians will never know the names of the people who work anonymously behind the scenes to better the lives of the people of South Australia.

The contribution that Rob Schwarz made to public life is immense. We are talking about a man who devoted his life to the service of the people of South Australia. He did it in a unique way. He advised treasurers and Treasury on the importance of financial matters in the department—independently, fiercely and always aiming to fight for South Australia at the national level.

It is fair to say that horizontal fiscal equalisation is one of the most complex formulas ever applied anywhere in the world. Australia does it exceptionally well. By and large, it is a formula based on a level of service being provided to any citizen anywhere in Australia on an equal basis. Whether you are in a regional area or Sydney, moneys are distributed equally around Australia to make sure that every Australian enjoys the same decent, affordable type of lifestyle that we all enjoy and that there are not privileged pockets. There are exceptions to that rule, but by and large HFE has served this country and this state exceptionally well.

Whenever we were arguing at a national level about HFE, the first and last phone call every treasurer would make—from Stephen Baker right through to the current Treasurer, Rob Lucas—would be to Rob Schwarz. This man devoted his life to making sure that South Australians had their fair share. Why? So our kids could get a good education and so our families could have the best access to health care, to adequate roads and to make sure our regional communities were adequately served. He took the time to understand the intricacies of South Australian demographics to make sure that we got the very best out of this.

Unfortunately, Rob Schwarz is not a name that we will see in this building. It is not a name that we will see memorialised on any statue across South Australia. It is not a name that we will see on a plaque on a building or a bridge or a road. It is not a name that schoolchildren will be taught in school, but it is a name that should be remembered because his service to South Australia made a difference—it made a big difference. His life changed our lives. It made South Australia more prosperous, it made us a better place and he did it with dignity and silence.

The member for Lee and I were privileged to have worked with him. I am very sad at his passing, and I am very sad that he did not get the chance to enjoy his retirement, that he did not get a chance to enjoy the fruits of his labour. He served both political parties without fear or favour. The member for Lee was telling me about another public servant in Treasury, and one of the greatest compliments you can pay a public servant is that when you leave your time with them you never quite know who they voted for. That is a sign of true independence.

God rest the soul of Rob Schwarz and comfort his family and two children who loved him. He leaves behind a wife, who I am sure is hurt and troubled and in mourning. In the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, obviously the funeral will be very difficult for the family. I thank the current Treasurer, the Hon. Rob Lucas in the other place, for discussing the life and contribution of Rob Schwarz in the other place. The member for Lee and I want to make our remarks here so that he is memorialised in this house as well because he did so much for so many and asked for so little.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:38): Likewise, I seek the indulgence of the house so that I may make some brief remarks about the contribution of Robert Glen Schwarz to the state of South Australia.

Rob Schwarz was born in September 1951. He graduated from the University of Adelaide with an honours degree in economics in 1973. For the next 42 years, he devoted his energies and considerable abilities to the development of good public sector policy measures across a range of economic and financial issues. He worked initially for the commonwealth Treasury, from 1973 to 1976. After a short stint overseas, Rob returned to South Australia in 1979, joining the South Australian Public Service, working in the economics unit located initially in the department of economic development and later in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

In 1984, Rob was appointed to the South Australian financing authority as manager of financial policy. These were the early days of state central borrowing authorities, and Rob was heavily involved in the development of financial and debt management policies for the state. He engaged with international credit rating agencies and was responsible for the preparation of crucial submissions that influenced the state's credit rating. Rob was also involved in the development of Treasury's response to and management of the losses of the State Bank.

In 1990, Rob was appointed Assistant Under Treasurer in the Department of Treasury and Finance. Over the next 25 years, he provided policy advice across a wide range of areas, including the state economy, tax reform, commonwealth-state relations, gambling policy, water policy and budget reform. During this period, there were some enormous reforms with significant and lasting financial implications for the state, as the member for West Torrens has just told us.

Crucially, the goods and services tax, which was introduced in the period of 1999-00, included perhaps the most fundamental reform to commonwealth-state financial relations that we have seen for a generation. Rob took a lead role in developing and advising government on the policy settings and also the principles underpinning the GST, including horizontal fiscal equalisation—as the member for West Torrens has said, the tenet that an Australian should be able to receive the same quality services regardless of where they live.

Robert rapidly developed a national reputation in commonwealth-state financial relations. His deep understanding of the policies and principles underpinning these relations led him to being appointed as one of only two state representatives to the national Greiner review of HFE in 2011-12, which at the time ultimately upheld the merits of the current HFE system. Rob was a vigorous defender of the principles of horizontal fiscal equalisation, a principle that holds significant financial significance for South Australia.

He formed strong and constructive working relationships at all levels, state and commonwealth, and was highly respected for his intellectual rigour, clarity of argument and analytical capacity. He had the right combination of ideas and an ability to implement them. I first met Rob in 2003, when I was a very young adviser in the then treasurer's office. He was the leader of the revenue and economics unit in his capacity as assistant under treasurer.

Rob and his team—which included other terrific public servants like Kathy Moore, Stuart Hocking, Tammie Pribanic, Greg Raymond, Adam Pamula and Marni Mead—provided advice to government that saw huge changes to many of the state's taxation regimes. Rob was a great example of all that is good about the Public Service in Australia and here in South Australia: he was dedicated, hardworking, talented, innovative and impartial. Like many of his colleagues in Treasury at the time, he was wonderful to work with. In that period of the early 2000s, the GST revenues escalated far above anyone's expectations across the country.

At treasurers' conferences between 2003 and 2005, interstate treasurers, like Mike Egan from New South Wales, and John Brumby from Victoria—unfortunately, for the purposes of this argument, both Labor treasurers—were already trying to unwind the principles of HFE and undermine the GST deal that had only been signed a handful of years before. They wanted a greater share of the national GST pie for their states to the detriment of South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the territories.

It was Rob's advice, his unwavering commitment to HFE, his advocacy to commonwealth Treasury officials, and the advice he armed the South Australian treasurer with, that enabled us to ward off these attacks from the Eastern States. Rob knew the substantial risk to our state's finances in the future should any element of the GST arrangements or the basis on which distributions of revenues to the states were calculated change.

Rob also provided advice and financial and economic modelling that saw the introduction of the first-home buyer scheme to coincide with the introduction of the goods and services tax. He oversaw the abolition of the bank accounts debits tax, financial institutions duty, mortgage duties, cheque duties, lease duties and stamp duties on unlisted shares. He oversaw enormous reductions in land taxes payable by property owners, and payroll taxes payable by business owners.

Rob retired from the Department of Treasury and Finance in 2015 but actually continued as a volunteer policy adviser in the Premier's department until ill health forced him to relinquish that role at the end of 2017. In that year, he was awarded the Public Service Medal as part of the Australia Day Honours for outstanding service in the field of intergovernmental fiscal relations, taxation policy and economic policy. Rob always took a traditional view of public service. He had respect for the positions that he held and, above all, the interests of the South Australian community. We think of his family that he leaves behind, his wife, Maryanne, and his children, Matthew and Nerissa, and their broader family. We offer them our sincere condolences and our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

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