Tony Burke

Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Minister for Cyber Security and Minister for the Arts. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of parliament (MP) for Watson since 2004. He held cabinet positions in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013.

Burke is a graduate of the University of Sydney, and worked as a political staffer, company director, and union organiser before entering politics. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2003, but resigned the following year to enter federal politics. He was included in the shadow ministry immediately after winning a seat at the 2004 election. During the first Rudd government, Burke held the position of Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, before being given the role of Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water and Population in the Gillard government, after Gillard replaced Rudd as prime minister. In June 2013, Rudd would in turn replace Gillard as prime minister, and appointed Burke as the Minister for the Arts and Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship in his subsequent government. He held these positions for less than three months, as Labor was defeated in the 2013 federal election.

In opposition, Burke served as the Manager of Opposition Business under Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, and held various positions in the shadow cabinet. After Labor's victory in the 2022 election, Burke would become Leader of the House, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts in the Albanese government.

Early life

Burke was raised in a Catholic family of Irish descent.<ref name="FineArtOfPersuasion">Template:Cite news</ref> He attended Catholic schools, Regina Coeli (Beverly Hills, NSW) and St Patrick's College (Strathfield, NSW), where he was Vice-Captain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He attended the University of Sydney where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. He was also awarded the Martin Sorensen Trophy for Best Speaker at the 1994 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

From 1993 to 1995, Burke worked as a staffer to Labor senators Graham Richardson and Michael Forshaw.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH">Template:Cite Au Parliament</ref> In 1996, he and two friends from his university debating society established Atticus Pty Ltd., a business that provides training for "clients from the corporate and education sectors in advocacy and communication skills". It was named after the iconic fictional character Atticus Finch from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.<ref name="FineArtOfPersuasion"/> He resigned his directorship of the company the following year to join the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) as a union organiser.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/> He left the SDA in 2003 to run for the New South Wales Legislative Council.<ref name="TonyBurkeParliamentofNSW">Template:Cite NSW Parliament</ref>

State politics

At the 2003 state election, Burke was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He chaired the NSW State Development Committee, conducting inquiries into ports infrastructure and science commercialisation.<ref name="TonyBurkeParliamentofNSW"/> A view was gradually formed that his talents were being wasted in the New South Wales Legislative Council and he resigned from state parliament on 24 June 2004 to campaign for the New South Wales division of Watson. He won the seat at the 2004 federal election.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/>

Federal politics

A member of Labor Right,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Burke was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2004 federal election, replacing the retiring Leo McLeay in the safe Labor seat of Watson. He and fellow Labor MP Linda Burney are the only members of the Federal Parliament to have always served as a minister or shadow minister. He was immediately promoted to the shadow ministry under Mark Latham, as Shadow Minister for Small Business. He was promoted to Shadow Minister for Immigration in June 2005, by which time Kim Beazley had replaced Latham as leader. After the 2006 leadership spill, the new leader Kevin Rudd expanded Burke's portfolio to Immigration, Integration and Citizenship.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH" />

Rudd and Gillard governments

File:20051115 Australia NSW Sydney IRProtest TonyBurke.jpg

Burke at a 2005 protest against the Howard government's industrial relations policy

After the 2007 federal election, Burke was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the new Rudd government. He was sworn in by the Governor-General on 3 December 2007.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/> Burke oversaw the abolition of the Australian bulk wheat export monopoly after the AWB oil-for-wheat scandal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He oversaw the eradication of the horse flu in Australia after the 2007 equine influenza outbreak.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 2 April 2010, Rudd appointed Burke as Minister for Population.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/> The appointment came after Rudd stated he was in favour of a "big Australia" in response to demographic projections in the Government's Intergenerational Report showing the population of Australia would increase from 22 million in 2010 to 35 million in 2050.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Burke's responsibilities included planning for the growth in Australia's population and coordinating the provision of services accordingly.

Following the 2010 federal election, Burke was appointed Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. In March 2012, following the ALP leadership spill, Burke was also appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/>

As Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Burke established the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network, the largest network of marine protected areas anywhere in the World and the world's second largest conservation determination after the preservation of Antarctica.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Burke also added koalas to the threatened species list in Queensland, NSW and the ACT.<ref>Template:Cite news </ref> He also placed a ban on a controversial Dutch "super trawler" fishing vessel operating in waters off Tasmania.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He acted as a mediator in the long-running dispute between environmental groups and the Tasmanian forestry industry, culminating in the signing of the historic Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Burke often cites Labor's environmental credentials and the campaign to protect the Daintree Rainforest as the reason he got involved in politics.<ref name="FineArtOfPersuasion"/> In government, Burke pushed to protect large areas of the Tasmanian Wilderness and the Ningaloo Reef by having them listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2014, the Abbott government’s application to undo Burke's Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage listing was rejected by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.<ref name="WorldHeritageDelist">Template:Cite news</ref> The Portuguese delegation called the delisting attempt "feeble".<ref name="WorldHeritageDelist"/>

In early 2011, Burke gave approval for the 100 per cent plantation timber Bell Bay Pulp Mill in the Tamar Valley after imposing stricter environmental conditions on the applicant Gunns Limited.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Burke said many of the demands made by environmental groups opposed to the development had been addressed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Walk For Respect, Tony Burke 2014.JPG

Burke in a 2014 protest against the Abbott government's proposed changes to section 18(c) of the Racial Discrimination Act

On 22 November 2012, Burke developed, negotiated and signed into law the Murray Darling Basin Plan, a process more than 100 years in the making, after extensive consultation with irrigators, environmental groups and state governments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 25 March 2013, Burke was appointed Minister for the Arts in the Second Gillard Ministry, in addition to his existing responsibilities.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH"/> Burke took over the implementation of the Gillard government's Creative Australia policy after the former Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean, was sacked for his involvement in a failed attempt to return Kevin Rudd to the prime ministership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill, which saw Gillard lose the Labor leadership, Rudd rejected Burke's offer to resign from the ministry.<ref name="ABCRuddMkTwo">Template:Cite news</ref> Burke, a Gillard supporter, had been critical of Rudd's performance during his previous tenure.<ref name="ABCRuddMkTwo"/>

Rudd subsequently appointed Burke as Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship in the Second Rudd Ministry. In this role he oversaw Rudd's resettlement plans with Papua New Guinea and Nauru, which saw an immediate and dramatic reduction in the number of people arriving by boat. During his short time as Minister for Immigration he also sought to release every unaccompanied minor who was in immigration detention.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Opposition (2013–2022)

Following Labor's 2013 election loss, Burke was appointed Shadow Finance Minister and Manager of Opposition Business.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH" />

After the 2016 federal election, Burke was appointed Shadow Minister for Environment and Water, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Australia, Shadow Minister for the Arts, in addition to his duties as the Manager of Opposition Business.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH" />

In 2019, he became Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, ending his roles in Environment and Water, and Citizenship and Multicultural Australia, but retaining the Arts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Albanese government (2022–present)

Following the 2022 federal election, Burke was appointed Leader of the House, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts in the Albanese ministry.<ref name="Tony-Burke-APH" />

On 28 July 2024 it was announced that Burke would become the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, in addition to continuing as the Minister for the Arts and Leader of the House, but would leave the role of Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations for Murray Watt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following the 2025 federal election, it was announced that Burke would retain the Arts and Home Affairs portfolios, and would also take responsibility for the Australian Federal Police and ASIO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other political issues

Death penalty

While in opposition, Burke led an unsuccessful bipartisan appeal for clemency to the Singapore High Commissioner to stop the execution of convicted Australian drug smuggler, Van Tuong Nguyen.<ref name="FineArtOfPersuasion" /> Seven years after Nguyen was executed Burke spoke at the launch of the SBS Better Man miniseries about Nguyen's case. At the launch, Burke referred to the meeting with the Singapore High Commissioner as "the worst day" of his political career and "potentially the most troubling day" of his life.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Racial Discrimination Act

Burke has been a vocal opponent of the Liberal National government's attempts to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.<ref name="ABC18C">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2014, Burke held a march against the changes to Section 18C in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba. The event was attended by more than 1,000 people protesting against the changes, which were subsequently dropped by the Abbott government.<ref name="ABC18C" />

The "Walk for Respect" was held again in 2017 in Lakemba when the Turnbull government again sought to remove certain protections against speech potentially considered to be racially offensive. The Walk was held on the same day the senate rejected the government amendments, this time with 3000 in attendance. [1]

Euthanasia

Burke is opposed to the legalisation of euthanasia. He has said his opposition stems from the case of a friend who was incorrectly diagnosed with a terminal illness.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1990s, Burke served as the executive director of Euthanasia No!, a group that lobbied state and federal governments against altering the status quo on euthanasia. In 1996, he and a pro-euthanasia campaigner, Peter Baume, were invited to address the New South Wales Legislative Assembly before a debate on the subject, one of only a handful of occasions on which non-MPs have been invited to speak in parliament.<ref>NSW PARLIAMENT: VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA (1996). Retrieved 4 March 2018.</ref><ref>Address of Mr Tony Burke, Executive Director of Euthanasia No! to the NSW Legislative Assembly, ACT Right to Life. Retrieved 4 March 2018.</ref> He was later tasked with lobbying Labor senators to vote for what became the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, which voided the Northern Territory's euthanasia laws.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Same-sex marriage

Burke publicly announced his support of marriage equality in May 2015,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and voted in favour of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had previously voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill 2012, citing opposition within his constituency.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His division had the second-highest percentage of "No" responses in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 69.64% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Burke married Cathy Bresnan in 1994; after commencing their relationship in 1989. She subsequently took the surname "Bresnan-Burke". The couple had three daughters together, but separated at the end of December 2012, the separation was not disclosed until the completion of the Federal Election in September 2013. In February 2014, The Australian reported that Burke had recently commenced a relationship with Skye Laris, his former chief of staff.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Burke and Laris married in December 2015.Template:Citation needed

He is also known for his love of music and keeps musical instruments in his Parliament House office.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Burke has coeliac disease.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Rudd Government (2007–10)
• Gillard Government
• Rudd Government (2013)
• Albanese Government

External links

• Tony Burke's personal website
• Template:OpenAustralia
• Australian Parliament Biography
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• Summary of parliamentary voting for Tony Burke MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au

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