1. Anthony Stephen Burke was born on 4 November 1969 and is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts.
47 Facts About Tony Burke
1. 2.
Tony Burke is a member of the Australian Labor Party, and has served as member of parliament for Watson since 2004.
3.
Tony Burke held cabinet positions in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013.
4.
Tony Burke is a graduate of the University of Sydney, and worked as a political staffer, company director, and union organiser before entering politics.
5.
Tony Burke was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2003, but resigned the following year to enter federal politics.
6.
Tony Burke was included in the shadow ministry immediately after winning a seat at the 2004 election.
7.
Tony Burke held these positions for less than three months, as Labor was defeated in the 2013 federal election.
8.
In opposition, Tony Burke served as the Manager of Opposition Business under Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, and held various positions in the shadow cabinet.
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Tony Burke was raised in a Catholic family of Irish descent.
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Tony Burke attended Catholic schools, Regina Coeli and St Patrick's College, where he was Vice-Captain.
11.
Tony Burke attended the University of Sydney where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.
12.
Tony Burke was awarded the Martin Sorensen Trophy for Best Speaker at the 1994 Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships.
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From 1993 to 1995, Tony Burke worked as a staffer to Labor senators Graham Richardson and Michael Forshaw.
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Tony Burke resigned his directorship of the company the following year to join the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association as a union organiser.
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Tony Burke left the SDA in 2003 to run for the New South Wales Legislative Council.
16.
At the 2003 state election, Tony Burke was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council.
17.
Tony Burke chaired the NSW State Development Committee, conducting inquiries into ports infrastructure and science commercialisation.
18.
Tony Burke won the seat at the 2004 federal election.
19.
Tony Burke was immediately promoted to the shadow ministry under Mark Latham, as Shadow Minister for Small Business.
20.
Tony Burke was promoted to Shadow Minister for Immigration in June 2005, by which time Kim Beazley had replaced Latham as leader.
21.
Tony Burke was sworn in by the Governor-General on 3 December 2007.
22.
Tony Burke oversaw the abolition of the Australian bulk wheat export monopoly after the AWB oil-for-wheat scandal.
23.
Tony Burke oversaw the eradication of the horse flu in Australia after the 2007 equine influenza outbreak.
24.
Tony Burke's responsibilities included planning for the growth in Australia's population and coordinating the provision of services accordingly.
25.
In March 2012, following the ALP leadership spill, Tony Burke was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council.
26.
Tony Burke added koalas to the threatened species list in Queensland, NSW and the ACT.
27.
Tony Burke placed a ban on a controversial Dutch "super trawler" fishing vessel operating in waters off Tasmania.
28.
Tony Burke acted as a mediator in the long-running dispute between environmental groups and the Tasmanian forestry industry, culminating in the signing of the historic Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement in 2011.
29.
Tony Burke often cites Labor's environmental credentials and the campaign to protect the Daintree Rainforest as the reason he got involved in politics.
30.
In government, Tony Burke pushed to protect large areas of the Tasmanian Wilderness and the Ningaloo Reef by having them listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
31.
In early 2011, Tony Burke gave approval for the 100 per cent plantation timber Bell Bay Pulp Mill in the Tamar Valley after imposing stricter environmental conditions on the applicant Gunns Limited.
32.
Tony Burke said many of the demands made by environmental groups opposed to the development had been addressed.
33.
On 22 November 2012, Tony Burke developed, negotiated and signed into law the Murray Darling Basin Plan, a process more than 100 years in the making, after extensive consultation with irrigators, environmental groups and state governments.
34.
On 25 March 2013, Tony Burke was appointed Minister for the Arts in the Second Gillard Ministry, in addition to his existing responsibilities.
35.
Tony Burke took over the implementation of the Gillard government's Creative Australia policy after the former Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean, was sacked for his involvement in a failed attempt to return Kevin Rudd to the prime ministership.
36.
On 28 July 2024 it was announced that Tony Burke would become the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, in addition to continuing as the Minister for the Arts and Leader of the House, but would leave the role of Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations for Murray Watt.
37.
Seven years after Nguyen was executed Tony Burke spoke at the launch of the SBS Better Man miniseries about Nguyen's case.
38.
At the launch, Tony Burke referred to the meeting with the Singapore High Commissioner as "the worst day" of his political career and "potentially the most troubling day" of his life.
39.
Tony Burke has been a vocal opponent of the Liberal National government's attempts to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
40.
In May 2014, Tony Burke held a march against the changes to Section 18C in the Sydney suburb of Lakemba.
41.
Tony Burke has said his opposition stems from the case of a friend who was incorrectly diagnosed with a terminal illness.
42.
Tony Burke was later tasked with lobbying Labor senators to vote for what became the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, which voided the Northern Territory's euthanasia laws.
43.
Tony Burke publicly announced his support of marriage equality in May 2015, and voted in favour of the Marriage Amendment Act 2017.
44.
Tony Burke had previously voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill 2012, citing opposition within his constituency.
45.
Tony Burke married Cathy Bresnan in 1994; after commencing their relationship in 1989.
46.
In February 2014, The Australian reported that Tony Burke had recently commenced a relationship with Skye Laris, his former chief of staff.
47.
Tony Burke is known for his love of music and keeps musical instruments in his Parliament House office.