Kerry Burke
Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:About Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Sir Thomas Kerry Burke (born 24 March 1942) is a former New Zealand politician and Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990, and later served twelve years on Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) from 1998 to 2010.
Early life and career
Burke was born in Christchurch in 1942. He attended Opawa Primary School and Linwood College.Template:Sfn In 1960, he began three years of study at the University of Canterbury, after which he studied for a year at the Christchurch College of Education. He taught at Rangiora High School from 1967 to 1972.<ref name="Speaker profile">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Herald profile">Template:Cite news</ref> From 1969 to 1971 he was chairman of the Rangiora branch of the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) union.Template:Sfn
Member of Parliament
Third Labour government
Template:NZ parlbox header Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox break Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:End Burke was first elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Rangiora in the 1972 election. From 1973 to 1978 he was a Lincoln College Council member.Template:Sfn
In the 1975 election, however, he lost his seat, and remained outside Parliament for three years.Template:Sfn
Political interregnum
After his defeat he took consolation that the swing against him in his electorate was lower than the overall swing against the government. He also appreciated that leaving parliament would give him more time to spend with his sons.<ref name="Herald profile"/> He decided to return to teaching, though found there to be no teaching vacancies in Canterbury at the time. This prompted him to move to the West Coast to teach at Greymouth High School from 1976 to 1978.<ref name="Speaker profile"/>
He established himself locally and when the local MP, Paddy Blanchfield, announced his retirement Burke sought the Labour Party candidacy. Despite facing criticisms as an outsider, he won the nomination over eight other candidates.<ref name="Herald profile"/>
Opposition
In the 1978 election, Burke was elected as the MP for the West Coast electorate. After reentering Parliament he criticised the closure of several gasworks in his electorate as well as the resulting employee reductions at the Liverpool coal mine after subsidies for them were cut by the Muldoon government.<ref name="Herald profile"/>
He was elevated to the shadow cabinet by Labour leader Bill Rowling in 1979 and was Shadow Minister of Labour and State Services from 1979 to 1980, Shadow Minister of Employment and Science & Technology from 1981 to 1982 and Shadow Minister of Employment, Regional Development and Tourism from 1982 to 1983.Template:Sfn He supported Rowling when he was challenged for the leadership in 1980 by deputy leader David Lange.Template:Sfn
When Lange replaced Rowling in 1983 Burke fell in the rankings and was left only with the regional development portfolio.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Fourth Labour government
When Labour won the 1984 election, Burke became Minister of Immigration and Minister of Employment. He held these roles until the 1987 election, when he was chosen to replace the outgoing Gerry Wall as Speaker. At 45 he was the second youngest Speaker in the history of the Parliament of New Zealand.
He served in this role for three years, losing the Speakership and his seat when Labour lost the 1990 election. In the 1990 New Year Honours, Burke was appointed a Knight Bachelor,<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> and the same year he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.<ref name="HBTQ">Template:Cite book</ref> He did not contest West Coast in the 1993 election; Damien O'Connor succeeded him as Labour's candidate.
Local government career
After leaving Parliament, Burke returned to Canterbury. He contested and was elected to the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) in 1998, beginning what would be 12 years of service. He first became chairman in 2004 and was reelected to the chair after the 2007 local elections.<ref>ECan chair re-elected, new deputyTemplate:Dead link, Environment Canterbury Press Release, 24 October 2007, Retrieved 9 December 2007.</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On 24 September 2009, Burke lost a motion of no confidence and was replaced as chairman by former National MP Alec Neill.<ref>Environment Canterbury new chair, deputy chair unchanged Template:Webarchive, Environment Canterbury Press Release, 24-09-09, retrieved 24-09-09. See also Alec Neill replaces Sir Kerry, The Press/www.Stuff.co.nz on-line, 24-09-09, retrieved 24-09-09. Archived at WebCite</ref> The council was removed in 2010 and replaced by Government-appointed commissioners. The reason cited for the sacking was due to poor direction, "woeful" performance and governance and an overall collapse of confidence in the organisation.<ref name="TVNZ_3439917">Template:Cite news</ref>
In the 2010 local elections, Burke stood for Christchurch City Council in the Spreydon-Heathcote ward but was beaten by the two incumbents (Sue Wells and Barry Corbett).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Burke had two sons with his first wife Jenny. He remarried with journalist Helen Paske in October 1984, with whom he had a third son in 1985.<ref name="Herald profile"/>Template:Sfn Paske died in 1989.<ref>Paske, Helen Mary, 1948–1989, NZ National Library</ref>
At one time Burke was patron of Cholmondeley Children's Home in Governors Bay.<ref name=Cholmondeley>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2012 he joined the board of the Draco Foundation (NZ) Charitable Trust, an organisation whose purpose is the protection and promotion of democracy and natural justice in New Zealand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The trust was denied charitable status by the Charities Commission and on appeal by the High Court of New Zealand the Draco organisation was found to have no public benefit and was set up for political purposes.
In January 2016, aged 73, Burke was convicted of drink driving having 517 μg of alcohol per litre of breath. He was fined $400 and disqualified from driving for six months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notes
References
Further reading
- Burke's contribution is entitled: "The youthful, united cabinet."
Template:S-start Template:S-off Template:Succession box |- Template:Succession box |- Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-vacant Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-par Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft |- Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-end
- 1942 births
- Living people
- Local politicians in New Zealand
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
- New Zealand educators
- New Zealand Knights Bachelor
- New Zealand Labour Party MPs
- Politicians from Christchurch
- People from the West Coast Region
- Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- University of Canterbury alumni
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election
- New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
- People educated at Linwood College
- Canterbury regional councillors