Michael Burke (1865 – 5 July 1937) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born at

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, to farmer Thomas Burke and Annie, ''née'' Quirke. He arrived in New South Wales in 1887 and worked as a labourer and union organiser. Around 1900, he married Lucy Agnes Lloyd, with whom he had six children. He was active in local politics, serving on

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

from 1909 to 1912 and from 1913 to 1927. He had been a foundation member of the Labor Party and served on its central executive from 1904 to 1913 and from 1915 to 1917. In 1917, he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as the member for Belmore. With the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1920 he was elected as one of the members for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

; he was defeated in 1922 but returned in 1925. After single-member districts were re-introduced in 1927 he was elected as the member for

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, but he retired in 1930. Burke died at Summer Hill in 1937.

References

1865 births 1937 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Sydney City Councillors Politicians from Sydney Politicians from County Tipperary Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub