[1] His army career included overseas service with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) peacekeeping in the Middle East in 1984–85 (in Beirut, Lebanon and the Sinai peninsula in Egypt).

He was a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College and served as an instructor in tactics at the United States Armor School, Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In 1994, Burke left the army and entered politics, winning Country Liberal Party endorsement to contest the Palmerston-based seat of Brennan, at the expense of sitting member and Perron government minister Max Ortmann.

In October 1998 he was appointed as the Leader of Government Business, and in December, took on a new set of responsibilities – among them industry, regional development, gaming and defence support.

[1] Burke's term as Chief Minister is probably most remembered for his vehement defence of the territory's mandatory sentencing policy, which required a minimum of 90 days imprisonment after someone had been convicted three times, regardless of how minor the offence.

[4] The policy was eventually toned down slightly for juveniles after Prime Minister John Howard and federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams intervened.

However, Burke's stance was also to lead to some scandal in late 2000, when he demanded the resignation of a magistrate (Alasdair McGregor) who had criticised his mandatory sentencing laws.

He called the election on a minor high, only weeks after the beginning of construction on the Adelaide-Darwin Railway, a major infrastructure project that had been planned for decades.

However, his chances suffered a blow when a planned deal concerning gas from the Timor Sea, in which he had played a central role and which would have produced significant employment opportunities in the territory, ran into difficulties and had to be postponed.

Amidst this environment, speculation soon began that Burke would step aside in favour of rival Terry Mills, who represented the nearby electorate of Blain.

His support began to wane when he made comments on radio suggesting that he had tolerated marijuana use in his unit while an army officer, allegedly prompting the Chief of the Defence Forces, Peter Cosgrove, to call him a "goose".

The final straw came when Burke refused to allow a conscience vote on the issue of lowering the age of consent for gay males from 18 years to 16.

It had a sudden revival, however, when fourteen months later, Mills abruptly resigned from the leadership, stating he did not feel capable of leading the CLP into the election due that year.