page_title: Tony Burke
section_title: Rudd and Gillard governments
hierarchical_section_title: Tony Burke / Federal politics / Rudd and Gillard governments
caption_attribution_description: This photo is relevant to the Australia NSW Sydney IRProtest.
context_page_description: Anthony Stephen Burke is an Australian Labor Party politician serving as Manager of Opposition Business since 2013, and has served as Member of Parliament for Watson since 2004. He was a Cabinet Minister under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013.
  Burke is a graduate of the University of Sydney, and worked as a political staffer, company director, and union organiser before entering politics. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 2003, but resigned the following year to enter federal politics. He was included in the shadow ministry immediately after winning a seat at the 2004 election. In the Labor governments between 2007 and 2013, Burke served for periods as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water and Population, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship. He has served as Manager of Opposition Business under Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese since 2013, and has also held various positions in the shadow cabinet.
  He is also known for his love of music and keeps musical instruments in his Parliament House office.
context_section_description: After the 2007 federal election, Burke was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the new Rudd Government. He was sworn in by the Governor-General on 3 December 2007. Burke oversaw the abolition of the Australian bulk wheat export monopoly after the AWB oil-for-wheat scandal. He oversaw the eradication of the horse flu in Australia after the 2007 equine influenza outbreak.
  On 2 April 2010, Rudd appointed Burke as Minister for Population. The appointment came after Rudd stated he was in favour of a "big Australia" in response to demographic projections in the Government's Intergenerational Report showing the population of Australia would increase from 22 million in 2010 to 35 million in 2050. Burke's responsibilities included planning for the growth in Australia's population and coordinating the provision of services accordingly.
  Following the 2010 federal election, Burke was appointed Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. In March 2012, following the ALP leadership spill, Burke was also appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council.
  As Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Burke established the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network, the largest network of marine protected areas anywhere in the World and the world's second largest conservation determination after the preservation of Antarctica.
  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.
  Burke often cites Labor's environmental credentials and the campaign to protect the Daintree Rainforest as the reason he got involved in politics. In government, Burke pushed to protect large areas of the Tasmanian Wilderness and the Ningaloo Reef by having them listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2014, the Abbott Government’s application to undo Burke's Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage listing was rejected by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The Portuguese delegation called the delisting attempt "feeble".
  In early 2011, 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. Burke said many of the demands made by environmental groups opposed to the development had been addressed.
  On 22 November 2012, 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.
  On 25 March 2013, Burke was appointed Minister for the Arts in the Second Gillard Ministry, in addition to his existing responsibilities. 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. Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill, which saw Gillard lose the Labor leadership, Rudd rejected Burke's offer to resign from the ministry. Burke, a Gillard supporter, had been critical of Rudd's performance during his previous tenure. 
  Rudd subsequently appointed Burke as Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship in the Second Rudd Ministry. In this role he oversaw Rudd’s resettlement plans with Papua New Guinea and Nauru, which saw an immediate and dramatic reduction in the number of people arriving by boat. During his short time as Minister for Immigration he also sought to release every unaccompanied minor who was in immigration detention.
caption: Burke at a 2005 protest against the Howard Government's industrial relations policy
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