Denis Burke

Denis Gabriel Burke (22 September 1948—) is a former Australian politician and the 6th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

Burke was born in Townsville, Queensland, and entered the Australian army in 1969. In a 25-year career, he rose to become Commanding Officer of the Darwin-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment. His army career included overseas service peacekeeping with the United Nations in the Middle East in 1984–85.

After leaving the army, Burke served as a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 2005. He spent two years (8 February 1999 – 27 August 2001) as Chief Minister after succeeding Shane Stone, but oversaw the CLP's defeat at the 2001 election, ending 27 years of continuous CLP government in the Northern Territory. Burke later served as Opposition Leader from 2001 to 2003 before being toppled, but was re-elected as leader in 2005. He subsequently took the party to its largest-ever defeat at the 2005 election, culminating in the shock loss of his own seat.

Post-politics, Burke worked in the United Arab Emirates as an Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Government.

(via Wikipedia)