Tom Burke (Australian politician)

Thomas Patrick Burke (born Patrick Thomas Burke, 28 August 1910 – 17 January 1973) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Perth from August 1943 to December 1955. He was a member of the Labor Party until his expulsion in 1957.

Born near the town of Moora, Western Australia, Burke moved to Perth as an adult, where he worked as a cartage contractor for his father and studied accounting. He first attempted to enter politics at the 1937 federal election; after joining the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943, Burke was elected as the member for Perth in the 1943 federal election, defeating the sitting member, Walter Nairn.

Burke did not manage to gain a cabinet position before the defeat of the Labor Party in 1949. He then became one of the most anti-communist Labor MPs. In 1950, Burke convinced the state executive to support the Communist Party Dissolution Bill. He attempted to defeat Labor leader H. V. Evatt following the 1954 federal election, but fell short by 68–20. Despite expectations, following the Australian Labor Party split of 1955, Burke did not join the breakaway Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist).

Burke lost his seat in the 1955 federal election to the Liberal party's Fred Chaney. In 1957, he was expelled from the Labor Party for his continued criticism of Evatt, however, he was readmitted in 1964. He tried twice to reenter politics, but the Labor Party would not select him. Burke died in 1973 of a myocardial infarction. Two of his sons, Terry and Brian Burke served as Labor members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly; Brian Burke was the premier of Western Australia from 1983 to 1988.