Anna Burke

Burke was born in Melbourne and was one of five children.[5] Her father was an electrician, and her mother a kindergarten teacher.[5]

She was educated at Presentation College, Windsor.[6][7] Her dyslexia meant she took her high school exams orally.[8] She graduated from Monash University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in English Literature, and later from the University of Melbourne in 1994 with a Master of Commerce with Honours in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management.[7][6]

Before entering politics, Burke worked as a trade union official and human resources manager. In this capacity, she worked for Victoria Roads from 1988 to 1993 and for Victoria University (then the Victorian Institute of Technology) from 1993 to 1994.[6] In 1994, she joined the Finance Sector Union as their National Industrial Officer.[9]

In 1994, she married her husband, Steve Burgess.[6] The couple have a son and a daughter; in 1999, Burke became the second woman to give birth while a sitting MP when her daughter was born.[4] Burke had her second child in 2002.[10]

She had joined the Ashwood branch of the Labor Party in 1986, and in 1997 she was pre-selected for the Division of Chisholm by the Labor Party.[6] The division was then held by Liberal Minister for Health and Family Services Michael Wooldridge. She was not expected to win, but after Wooldridge switched to the electorate of Casey, she won the seat at the 1998 federal election against Peter Vlahos of the Liberal Party with a 4.67% swing to Labor (2PP).[11]

In 2005, Burke submitted a Private Member's Bill to the house that proposed an early form of the subsequently-created Do Not Call Register.[6]

After Labor's win at the 2007 federal election, Burke was elected as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.[7]

In 2008, Burke argued for so-called "anorexia websites" (websites that promoted eating disorders) to be banned,[12][13] and continued to advocate for awareness around eating disorders throughout her time in parliament.[14]

On 24 November 2011, Speaker Harry Jenkins announced his resignation from the Speakership, citing a desire to be more involved in Labor party matters as a backbencher.[15] The member for the division of Fisher, Peter Slipper, was nominated by the government to become Speaker.[15] In response, the Manager of Opposition Business, Christopher Pyne, nominated a number of government members to become Speaker, starting with Burke.[16] All government members nominated declined their nominations.[16] Slipper accepted his, and took the chair as Speaker.[15] Burke accepted the Government's nomination for the position of Deputy Speaker on the same day, and was elected to that position following a ballot.[7]

On 22 April 2012 the Speaker, Peter Slipper, announced he was standing aside, meaning he would remain Speaker but would not attend sessions of the House, until fraud allegations made against him with respect to travel expenses were resolved.[17] The Opposition called for Slipper to stay away from the chamber until sexual harassment charges were resolved as well.[18] On 9 October 2012, Peter Slipper resigned as Speaker of the House.[19] Later that evening, Burke was nominated and elected the new Speaker of the House of Representatives unopposed, becoming only the second woman to do so.[2][3]

On 4 May 2012, Burke called for a national ban on child beauty pageants.[20]

On 30 August 2013, her parliamentary office was vandalised with "fre the refugee [sic]" graffiti and the windows were smashed.[21] Opposition finance spokesperson Andrew Robb's office was also vandalised similarly.[21]

In the 2013 federal election, Burke suffered a 4.18% swing (2PP) against her in Chisholm, but was re-elected with 51.6% of the 2PP vote.[22] Her tenure as Speaker ended with the defeat of the Rudd government, and the Abbott government appointed Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker.[23] She then sought to become chief opposition whip in the Shorten opposition, but was not successful.[24] Burke stated that she had been unsuccessful in being appointed to the frontbench because of factional manoeuvring, and that Labor had "failed women".[25][26]

On 5 May 2014, Burke appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's panel show Q+A, which was disrupted by protesters unfurling a banner and voicing criticism of then-education minister Christopher Pyne.[27]

On 16 December 2015, Burke announced that she would not re-contest her seat at the 2016 federal election.[28] She was replaced as the Member for Chisholm by Liberal Julia Banks,[29] who was the only Coalition candidate to win a seat held by an opposition party in 2016.[30]

From 2016-2018, Burke served as the chair of Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia.[6] On 16 January 2017, Burke was appointed as a full-time Member of the General, Freedom of Information, and Veterans' Appeals Divisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, with her term to end on 15 January 2024.[31] In the 2019 Australia Day Honours Burke was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to the community".[32]

Her official portrait as Speaker of the House was painted in 2015 by the Sydney artist Jude Rae, making it the first portrait in the Historical Memorials Collection that both depicts and was painted by a woman.[4][3] The portrait was unveiled at Parliament House on 14 September 2017.[3]

Burke is currently a board member of the Institute for Breathing and Sleep (since January 2016),[6] a board member of RedR Australia (since January 2018),[6] chair of the Advisory Board of Public Policy and Management at Melbourne University (since January 2019),[33] and chair of the Monash University Accident Research Centre (since January 2019).[6]

As Speaker, Burke instructed members to not use "Madam Speaker" to refer to her, but rather just "Speaker".[23] This precedent was not followed by her successor Bronwyn Bishop, who requested to be called "Madam Speaker".[23] Burke also gained a reputation as "straight-talking"[34][35][36] and for using a "death stare" as Speaker.[37][38]

Burke was in the Speaker's chair for several notable parliamentary incidents. On 22 February 2008, then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was absent from the house as he was visiting victims of a flood in Mackay, Queensland.[39] In protest of Rudd's absence, the Opposition brought a cardboard cut-out of Rudd into the chamber.[40] Burke requested that the "offensive article" be removed from the house,[41] along with the Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker. Hartsuyker's refusal to leave the house caused Burke to suspend the sitting of parliament completely.[39][40][41]

On 30 May 2012, embattled (see Health Services Union expenses affair) Labor-turned-independent MP Craig Thomson unexpectedly sided with the Opposition during a parliamentary division. In order not to accept the "tainted vote" of Thomson, several Opposition members, including the leader Tony Abbott, ran for the doors; Burke had however already requested them to be locked, and so the members were prevented from leaving the chamber.[42][43]

On 20 August 2012, Burke invoked Standing Order 94A to eject the then-Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott from the House for 1 hour for refusing to withdraw a statement "without qualification".[44] The ejection of an opposition leader was rare, and had not occurred since the ejection of John Howard in 1986.[44]

On 12 March 2013, Question Time was interrupted several times by members of the public gallery calling the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, a liar. This led to Burke stating "This is Question Time. It is not a football match", as several individuals were removed from the gallery.[45]

• Personal website
• Search or browse Hansard for Anna Burke at OpenAustralia.org
• Summary of parliamentary voting for Anna Burke MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au