Brian Burke (Australian politician)

Brian Burke
23rd Premier of Western Australia
In office
25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorRichard Trowbridge
Gordon Reid
DeputyMal Bryce
Preceded byRay O'Connor
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Ministerial offices
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office
25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
PremierHimself
Preceded byRay O'Connor
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Minister Co-ordinating Economic and Social Development
In office
25 February 1983 – 16 March 1987
PremierHimself
Preceded byRay O'Connor
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Minister for Women's Interests
In office
25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
PremierHimself
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Minister for Forests
In office
25 February 1983 – 20 December 1984
PremierHimself
Preceded byIan Laurance
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Minister for Tourism
In office
25 February 1983 – 20 December 1984
PremierHimself
Preceded byBarry MacKinnon
Succeeded byDes Dans
Minister for Public Sector Management
In office
16 March 1987 – 25 February 1988
PremierHimself
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia
In office
18 September 1981 – 19 February 1983
DeputyMal Bryce
Preceded byRon Davies
Succeeded byRay O'Connor
Leader of the Western Australian Labor Party
In office
18 September 1981 – 25 February 1988
DeputyMal Bryce
Preceded byRon Davies
Succeeded byPeter Dowding
Member of the Western Australian Parliament
for Balga
In office
19 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
Preceded byConstituency re-established
Succeeded byTed Cunningham
In office
30 March 1974 – 19 February 1977
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of the Western Australian Parliament
for Balcatta
In office
19 February 1977 – 25 February 1983
Preceded byConstituency re-established
Succeeded byRon Bertram
In office
30 March 1973 – 30 March 1974
Preceded byHerb Graham
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Brian Thomas Burke

(1947-02-25) 25 February 1947 (age 77)
Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Political partyLabor (1963–2006)
Children6
Parent(s)Tom Burke
Madeline Orr
RelativesTerry Burke (brother)
ProfessionJournalist
politician

Brian Thomas Burke[1] (born 25 February 1947) is an Australian former politician who was the 23rd premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 to his resignation on 25 February 1988. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 30 March 1973 to 25 February 1988, representing the electoral districts of Balga and Balcatta at various points, and was the leader of the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia from 18 September 1981 to 25 February 1988. Burke studied law at the University of Western Australia for one year before dropping out. During the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked as a journalist for The West Australian newspaper, 6PM radio station, and Seven News Perth. He was elected to Parliament at the 1973 Balcatta state by-election, becoming one of the most popular local members over the following years. In 1981, he became the leader of the Labor Party in a leadership spill. He led the Labor Party to its first election victory since 1971 at the 1983 Western Australian state election, defeating the Liberal-National government of Ray O'Connor.

His achievements as Premier include the reopening the Fremantle railway line, abolishing capital punishment, banning nuclear power, and implementing electoral reform. He was also at the centre of the WA Inc scandal, in which his cosy relationships with entrepreneurs led the state to losing hundreds of millions of dollars. This included providing a $150 million guarantee to the Rothwells bank following the October 1987 stock market crash. A year later, Rothwells went into liquidation.

Burke resigned as Premier and as a member of Parliament exactly five years after taking office, while still having a high popularity. He was succeeded by Peter Dowding, who went on to win the 1989 state election. In June 1988, he was appointed a Companion to the Order of Australia. Burke then became the Australian Ambassador to Ireland and the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See. He resigned from those positions in 1991, having to face the WA Inc royal commission. Although not found criminally responsible for anything relating to WA Inc, the royal commission discovered that he had falsely claimed $17,000 from a parliamentary travel account between 1984 and 1986. In July 1994, he was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released on parole after having served seven months. In April 1995, he was stripped of his Order of Australia honour. In March 1997, he was found guilty of stealing $122,585 in campaign donations to the Labor Party. He was sentenced to three years jail, but served six months before the conviction was quashed on appeal.

In the 2000s and early 2010s, Burke continued to maintain his Labor party contacts and parliamentary influence, using them to further his career as a pro-business lobbyist. He worked both sides of politics in partnership with disgraced former ministerial colleague Julian Grill and assisted by former senator Noel Crichton-Browne.[2]