Tony Burke
Anthony Stephen Burke (4 November 1969—) is an Australian politician. Born into an Irish Catholic family in Sydney, New South Wales, he was educated at Regina Coeli and St Patrick's College before graduating from the University of Sydney with a double Bachelor in Arts and Law. He has three daughters ("The Fine Art of Persuasion", 2006).
Burke joined the Labor party and worked as a staffer to Senators Michael Forshaw and Graeme Richardson from 1993-1995, before a stint as a union organiser. When it became apparent that the NT was on the cusp of legalising voluntary euthanasia, rising Labor Right star Burke was shoulder-tapped to work alongside Liberal MP Kevin Andrews and scupper it. In 1997, Burke was the executive director of a high-profile lobby group, Euthanasia NO!, garnering political support for a bill that ultimately successfully passed as the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 and denied Territories the right to self-legislate on the issue (Grattan, 2002).
Burke was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2004 election, representing the seat of Watson. He has held Ministerial appointments ever since (Parliament of Australia, 2022).
At time of writing in August 2022, the Restoring Territory Rights Bill has been tabled in a bid to repeal sections in the Euthanasia Laws Act that prevent the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory from self-legislating on the issue. Burke, as Leader of the House at this time, is responsible for guiding the bill to a conscience vote (Alcorn, 2022). Burke is personally against euthanasia, although he has stated this is not due to his Catholic faith but because a friend's HIV was once misdiagnosed as terminal (Karvelas, 2016; Grattan, 2022).
Alcorn, G. (2022, August 4). Territories deserve say on legalising voluntary euthanasia. The Age. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/territories-deserve-say-on-legalising-voluntary-euthanasia-20220802-p5b6hy.html
Grattan, M. (2022, August 1). View from The Hill: House vote on allowing territories to legalise voluntary assisted dying likely this week. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-house-vote-on-allowing-territories-to-legalise-voluntary-assisted-dying-likely-this-week-188000
Karvelas, P. (2016, August 19). Euthanasia debate: Tony Burke cites friend's HIV as reason against laws, rejects 'Catholic force' claims. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-19/tony-burke-cites-friends-hiv-as-reason-against-euthanasia/7768134
Parliament of Australia. (2022). Hon Tony Burke MP. https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=DYW
"The Fine Art of Persuasion". (2006, December 30). The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-fine-art-of-persuasion-20061230-gdp5ac.html?page=fullpage
