Brian Burke (Australian politician)
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.
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.
He worked both sides of politics in partnership with disgraced former ministerial colleague Julian Grill and assisted by former senator Noel Crichton-Browne.
[12] Burke's brother Terry was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1968, representing the electoral district of Perth.
Having undertaken an opinion poll of the seat, Burke realised he was most likely not going to win, so he asked acting state secretary Kim Beazley for money to fund his campaign.
At the ensuing by-election on 28 July 1973, Burke defeated the Liberal Party candidate by 30 votes as measured on a two-party-preferred basis.
[32] Over the following five to six years, Burke had a low profile within the party, however he built up support in his electorate, with him eventually becoming one of the most popular local members ever.
Another time, Burke suggested to Tonkin "...any business person looking for a government contract—you don’t get a contract unless you kick into (contribute to) the party."
[9][38] In March 1978, new Labor leader Ron Davies appointed Burke as the shadow minister for housing, and the chief secretary.
Leading into the 1983 state election, Western Australia was in a recession and interest rates were rising, affecting middle-class voters who would normally vote Liberal.
[59] Combatting unemployment became the main plank of Labor's campaign, with Burke saying that his aim was to "create an economic environment in which all those who sought full-time paid employment could find it".
[62] Other commitments were to set up an inquiry into education conducted by former Federal Minister for Education Kim Beazley Sr., build an extra 1,500 state housing units using the funds from the sale of housing commission land, establish a Western Australian Development Bank to increase the amount of risk capital, reduce payroll tax and eventually abolish it, and set up a South East Asian Marketing Corporation to increase exports.
[61] The election resulted in Labor recording a two-party-preferred vote of 54.4%, winning nine additional seats in the Legislative Assembly, giving them a majority of three.
[78] Maumill, and later Howard Sattler, hosted a weekly morning radio segment on 6PR called Ask the Premier, where Burke would answer listeners' questions.
[80] As Tourism Minister, Burke chaired the Rottnest Island Board, where he met Dallas Dempster, an appointee by the previous Liberal government.
They claimed to have an agreement with the O'Connor Government that their obligation to build a town at the mine would be waived if the coalition had won the 1983 election.
The royal commission found that Burke had known about Connell advising Bond, but "deliberately chose not to tell his Cabinet colleagues.
He also announced pay cuts for senior public servants, politicians, and the judiciary, and that 1,000 government jobs would be removed, saving $15 million.
The following month, the advisory council was set up, with 20 appointees there advising Cabinet on all policy decisions affecting women.
By the end of 1983, Burke had established the Small Business Development Corporation, the Western Australian Institute of Sport, the Tripartite Labour Consultative Council to recommend legislation and reform for industrial relations, and the Multi-Cultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission.
Burke and Prime Minister Hawke eventually came to an agreement in October 1985 such that the federal government's legislation would not allow Aboriginal people to veto mining proposals on their lands.
[115][117] Other contenders were David Parker, Bob Pearce, and Julian Grill,[116] however they all pulled out of contention before the 30 December Labor caucus vote due to Burke's influence, the opinion poll, and the need for the party to be united.
[122] The report stated: Some ministers elevated personal or party advantage over their constitutional obligation to act in the public interest.
They derived in part from his well-established relationship with Mr Connell, the chairman and major shareholder of Rothwells, and from his desire to preserve the standing of the Australian Labor Party in the eyes of those sections of the business community from which it had secured much financial support.
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).
[127][128] 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[129] and fined $25,000.
[131] On 19 June 2013, Burke was charged with four counts of insider trading relating to the ASX-listed telecommunications company AMCOM,[132] all of which were dropped on 18 February 2014.
[138][139] In 2008, Edith Cowan University Professor Quentin Beresford released The Godfather: The life of Brian Burke, an unauthorised biography.
