Thomas Patrick Burke (28 August 1910 – 17 January 1973) was a member of the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

. Burke was born at Berkshire Valley, near Moora, Western Australia. His birth name was Frederick Thomas, but he was informally renamed Patrick Thomas by his father, Peter Francis Burke, and he was always called Tom. He later formally changed his name to Thomas Patrick in 1963. He was educated by correspondence and at

Miling Miling is a small town in the Shire of Moora, north of Perth, Western Australia. At the , it had a population of 101. Miling is the terminus of the Clackline–Miling railway branch line 150 miles from Perth. This branch line originally start ...

State School and later worked as a cartage contractor while studying accountancy. In 1941, he married Madeline Muirson Orr. He enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in January 1943 and served with the ground staff at

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Political career

Burke was elected at the 1943 election to the House of Representatives seat of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, representing the Labor Party. Although he had high aspirations he was not selected for the ministry during the Curtin and Chifley governments. A member of the party's right wing, he was a strong opponent of

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...

; and in 1955, at the time of the split in the ALP, was banned from representing the Western Australian branch at federal conferences of the party. Nevertheless, unlike various other Labor right-wingers, he did not join the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) (later the DLP). At the

1955 election The following elections occurred in the year 1955. Africa * 1955 Liberian general election * 1955 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1955 Cambodian parliamentary election * 1955 Indonesian Constituent Assembly election * 1955 Indon ...

he was defeated by Fred Chaney. In 1957, Burke was expelled from the party, but seven years later he regained his membership. He failed to gain Labor pre-selection for Perth in 1965 and 1968. Instead, he promoted his sons' careers.

Terry Burke Terence Joseph Burke (born 1 February 1942) is a former member for the seat of Perth in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. He held the seat between 1968 and 1987. In 1974, with the Labor Party in Opposition, he was a member of the T ...

became member for

from 1968 to 1987. Brian Burke became member for Balcatta in 1973 (later redistributed and renamed Balga) in the Western Australian Parliament and later served as

state premier The premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories are the head of government, heads of the executive governments in the six states and two self-governing territories of Australia. They perform the same function at the s ...

from February 1983 until February 1988. Burke lived long enough to see Labor return to government under

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. He died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

in Perth on 17 January 1973, survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Tom 1910 births 1973 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Perth Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian people of Irish descent People from Moora, Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II