Brian Burke (Australian politician)

Brian Thomas Burke (born 25 February 1947)[1] was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988. He was imprisoned for seven months in 1994, after being convicted of "false pretence" regarding travel expenses.[2]

Brian Burke
23rd Premier of Western Australia
In office 25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Richard Trowbridge Gordon Reid
Deputy	Mal Bryce
Preceded by	Ray O'Connor
Succeeded by	Peter Dowding
Leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia
In office 18 September 1981 – 25 February 1988
Deputy	Mal Bryce
Preceded by	Ron Davies
Succeeded by	Peter Dowding
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office 25 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Ray O'Connor
Succeeded by	Peter Dowding
Minister Co-ordinating Economic and Social Development
In office 25 February 1983 – 16 March 1987
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Ray O'Connor
Succeeded by	Peter Dowding
Minister for Forestry
In office 25 February 1983 – 22 March 1985
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Ian Laurance
Succeeded by	Monty House
Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Balga
In office 19 February 1983 – 25 February 1988
Preceded by	Constituency re-established
Succeeded by	Ted Cunningham
In office 30 March 1974 – 19 February 1977
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Balcatta
In office 19 February 1977 – 25 February 1983
Preceded by	Constituency re-established
Succeeded by	Ron Bertram
In office 30 March 1973 – 30 March 1974
Preceded by	Herb Graham
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Brian Thomas Burke 25 February 1947 Subiaco, Western Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Relations	Terry Burke (brother)
Parents	Tom Burke Madeline Orr
Profession	Journalist politician

In the following decades, 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.[3]

Political career

A son of federal Labor parliamentarian Tom Burke, Brian Burke started his career as a journalist, initially at The West Australian newspaper and later in radio and television.

Burke entered the Legislative Assembly at the 1973 Balcatta by-election, which he won by only 30 votes on the two-party-preferred count.[4] He would hold this seat, renamed Balga in 1974, Balcatta again in 1977, and Balga again in 1983, until his retirement from politics in 1988.

His elder brother Terry held the seat of Perth from 1968 to 1987 and acted as a paid collector of campaign donations during the WA Inc period.[5][6]

In 1981, Brian Burke defeated Ron Davies to become opposition leader.[7] At the 19 February 1983 state election, he became the state's 23rd premier (and its third youngest after John Scaddan and Newton Moore), ending almost nine years of conservative coalition government which had commenced under Sir Charles Court (1974–1982), and was completed by Ray O'Connor (1982–1983).

The Burke government abolished capital punishment in Western Australia in 1984 and reopened the Fremantle railway.[8] It also enacted important electoral reforms in 1987, introducing multi-member electorates in the Legislative Council and a method of proportional representation 'weighted' to give extra representation to rural constituents (but ending excessive and unfair rural weighting which had been in effect for many years). Four-year maximum terms were established for the Legislative Assembly, and fixed four-year terms for the Legislative Council.[9][10]

His premiership was characterised by very close associations with businessmen such as Laurie Connell and Alan Bond and arranging joint government and business deals. As a result of the 1987 stock market crash, major corporate collapses including that of Connell's merchant bank Rothwells unwound some of those deals which, in turn, caused major losses to the state. The corporate deals and the attempted government-sponsored rescue of Rothwells under subsequent premier Peter Dowding were widely styled in media and civil society as "WA Inc".[11]

Burke resigned as premier and as member for Balga on 25 February 1988, on the fifth anniversary of his becoming premier and his own 41st birthday. A packed public gallery attended his resignation speech and both he and his deputy Mal Bryce, who resigned on the same day, were given a rare standing ovation in the House.[12] Burke was able to play the part of kingmaker, convincing party colleagues to support the ticket of Dowding and David Parker for the leadership. Burke then accepted an appointment as Australia's ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.[13]

As a result of allegations of improper conduct by Burke during his time as premier, the WA Inc royal commission was established in 1991. This led to Burke being charged with various offences, for which he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He served seven months in jail in 1994 for travel expense rorts before being released on parole. In March 1997, he was sentenced to three years' jail for stealing $122,585 in campaign donations. He served six months before the convictions were quashed on appeal. In 1995, he was stripped of his 1988 honour as a Companion of the Order of Australia.[14]

Lobbying activities

Burke became active as a consultant and lobbyist for Western Australian business interests. His continued involvement in state Labor branch politics was the subject of controversy since before Labor returned to power in 2001. As premier, Geoff Gallop banned cabinet ministers from contact with Burke, but this was lifted by his successor Alan Carpenter when he took office in February 2006.

On 9 November 2006, Burke resigned from the Labor Party after public criticism from Carpenter, in part due to evidence provided to the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC).[15] Norm Marlborough, the Minister for Small Business and the South-West in the Carpenter Ministry, was forced to resign from the ministry and from the parliament on 10 November 2006 after the Corruption and Crime Commission revealed he had kept a "secret mobile phone" to stay in touch with Burke.

This triggered a by-election for Marlborough's seat of Peel, although Labor retained the seat.[16][17] Burke subsequently stood trial on five charges of telling lies to the CCC inquiry and on 1 April 2010 was found guilty of deliberately giving false testimony[18] and fined $25,000. An attempted appeal to the High Court against the conviction failed.[19] Soon after, Burke was found not guilty of a separate charge of disclosing official secrets.[20]

On 19 June 2013, Burke was charged with four counts of insider trading relating to the ASX-listed telecommunications company AMCOM,[21] all of which were dropped on 18 February 2014.[22]

See also

• John Curtin Foundation

References

1. "Births". The West Australian. Perth, WA. 26 February 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
2. Cohen, David (28 February 2007). "The strife of Brian". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
3. e.g., Weber, David "Fels sacked after moving a motion from disgraced former senator" ABC PM radio transcript
4. Hetherington R. "Prelude to the election" in G. S. Reid (ed.), The Western Australian Elections 1974, University of Western Australia Department of Politics, Nedlands 1976
5. "Mr Terence Joseph Burke". Parliament of WA. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
6. Ramsey A. "A role in the fall of a Labor mate" Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July 2005
7. "History of the ALP (WA Branch)". Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
8. Acts Amendment (Abolition of Capital Punishment) Act 1984 (Western Australia), slp.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
9. Phillips Harry C. J. "Electoral Law in the State of Western Australia: An Overview". 3rd edn 2013, p. 113
10. "Electoral reform expected to alter balance of power", The Australian, 11 June 1987, p.5
11. Barrass, Tony (8 August 2009). "Business and Labor at the birth of WA Inc". The Australian. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
12. Phillips, Harry C. J. (1991). "The Modern Parliament: 1965–1989". In Black, David (ed.). The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990. Perth, Western Australia: Parliament of Western Australia. p. 231. ISBN 0-7309-3983-9.
13. McGeough, Paul (23 December 1987). "This time, Dublin may be lucky". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 11.
14. Mickelburough, Peter "Social leaders stripped of honours after falling from grace", Herald Sun, 6 June 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014
15. "Former WA premier to quit ALP". The Australian. 9 November 2006. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
16. Weber, David "Burke attacks the Corruption Commission" ABC AM radio transcript 5 December 2006
17. Colvin, Mark "WA corruption commission investigates ex-premier Burke" ABC PM radio transcript 20 February 2007
18. "Brian Burke fined for lying to watchdog". ABC News. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
19. AAP "Brian Burke fails in High Court appeal bid", The Australian, 16 November 2012
20. Le May R. (AAP) "Burke fires shot at CCC after acquittal", The West Australian, 3 December 2012
21. "Former WA premier Brian Burke and stockbroker to stand trial on insider trading charges", ABC News, 19 June 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2015
22. Menagh, Joanna. "Insider trading charges against former premier Brian Burke dropped", ABC News, 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2016

Sources

• Quentin Beresford (2008). The Godfather: The Life of Brian Burke. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-556-5.
• Moon J, Fletcher C (1988). "New Government and Policy Change in Western Australia 1983-1988: Did Mr Burke Make a Difference?". Australian Journal of Political Science. Routledge. 23.

External links

• Constitutional Centre biographical entry
• Western Australian Government Commissions of Inquiry (for WA Inc Royal Commission)
• Video of Brian Burke reporting for 7 News in 1966 on YouTube