Fall, Second Coming, Final Fall and New Beginnings
As Opposition Leader, Burke struggled to impact on the government, and presided over a disunited party that found it difficult to come to terms with being in opposition. Amidst this environment, speculation soon began that Burke would step aside in favour of rival Terry Mills. Burke was determined to remain leader, however, and fended off several challenge attempts by Mills, with the support of several influential MPs, such as Jodeen Carney. He was also briefly boosted by victory - despite a significant swing against the party - in the 2003 Katherine by-election. His support began to evaporate, however, when he made comments on radio suggesting that he had tolerated marijuana use in his unit while an army officer, allegedly prompting the Chief of the Defence Forces, Peter Cosgrove, to call him a "goose". While Cosgrove quickly backed away from the comment, it had nevertheless damaged his leadership. The final straw came when Burke refused to allow a conscience vote on the issue of lowering the age of consent for gay males; Carney crossed the floor to vote with the ALP and shifted her support to Mills, and was soon followed by newcomer Fay Miller. Mills subsequently launched a formal leadership challenge, and Burke was easily defeated.
After being toppled as leader, Burke's political career seemed largely over. It had a sudden revival, however, when fourteen months later, Mills abruptly resigned from the leadership. Burke nominated for the vacancy, and was unanimously re-elected as leader on 7 February 2005. He led the party to the 2005 election, but was soundly defeated, losing his own seat of Brennan in a shock result. Burke had already said that he would resign as leader if he lost the election, but his unprecedented defeat in his own electorate came as a surprise to almost everyone in the Territory - including the ALP candidate, James Burke (no relation).
Burke now works for the sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate as a high level advisor. His main function in this position is to oversee the application of funds within the Emirate and the restructure of various local government bodies. Burke has been highly successful in this role and routinely advises members of the royal family.
He is married with two children, Sam Burke (prosecutor with the Department of Public Prosecutions) and Tom Burke (lawyer at global law firm Allen & Overy). He also has two daughters from his first marriage, Lisa and Angela. His second wife, Annette, was elected Mayor of Palmerston in 1998 and resigned in 2007 after winnng consecutive elections. Annette now works with Denis in the United Arab Emirates as the executive director of a local consultancy firm.
Read more about this topic: Denis Burke (Australian Politician)
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