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.
[4] When Lange replaced Rowling in 1983 Burke fell in the rankings and was left only with the regional development portfolio.
[8][9] On 24 September 2009, Burke lost a motion of no confidence and was replaced as chairman by former National MP Alec Neill.
The reason cited for the sacking was due to poor direction, "woeful" performance and governance and an overall collapse of confidence in the organisation.
[11] 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).
[15] 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.
[16] 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.