Tom Burke

Thomas Patrick Burke (born Patrick Thomas Burke, 28 August 1910 – 17 January 1973) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Perth from August 1943 to December 1955. He was a member of the Labor Party until his expulsion in 1957.

Born near the town of Moora, Western Australia, Burke moved to Perth as an adult, where he worked as a cartage contractor for his father and studied accounting. He first attempted to enter politics at the 1937 federal election; after joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943, Burke was elected as the member for Perth in the 1943 federal election, defeating the sitting member, Walter Nairn.

Burke did not manage to gain a cabinet position before the defeat of the Labor Party in 1949. He then became one of the most anti-communist Labor MPs. In 1950, Burke convinced the state executive to support the Communist Party Dissolution Bill. He attempted to defeat Labor leader H. V. Evatt following the 1954 federal election, but fell short by 68–20. Despite expectations, following the Australian Labor Party split of 1955, Burke did not join the breakaway Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist).

Burke lost his seat in the 1955 federal election to the Liberal party's Fred Chaney. In 1957, he was expelled from the Labor Party for his continued criticism of Evatt, however, he was readmitted in 1964. He tried twice to reenter politics, but the Labor Party would not select him. Burke died in 1973 of a myocardial infarction. Two of his sons, Terry and Brian Burke served as Labor members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly; Brian Burke was the premier of Western Australia from 1983 to 1988.

Early life Burke was born on 28 August 1910 near the town of Moora in Western Australia. He was the third son out of eight children of Peter Francis Burke, a farmer, and Catherine Mary, née Kelly. He won preselection against one other contender the following year, but lost in the 1937 federal election to the incumbent Nationalist member, Walter Nairn, who achieved roughly 60 percent of the vote. In the 1940 federal election, the Labor Party, led by John Curtin, came close to defeating the Coalition. The following year, the Coalition government fell and Curtin became prime minister. Burke did not contest the election, likely due to his impending marriage. On 4 January 1941, he married Madeline Muirson Orr, a dressmaker, at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Subiaco. They moved into a house in Highgate, in Perth's inner north.

Burke enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force in January 1943, Burke was transferred to the Air Force Reserve two months later.

Burke aspired to become treasurer in a Labor government under Kim Beazley Sr., but by the defeat of Labor in 1949, Burke had not attained a cabinet position. In October 1954, he unsuccessfully tried to trigger another leadership ballot. He was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.