Tom Burns (Australian politician)
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The Hon Tom Burns OAM |
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|---|---|
| Deputy Premier of Queensland | |
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In office 7 December 1989 – 19 February 1996 |
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| Premier | Wayne Goss |
| Preceded by | Bill Gunn |
| Succeeded by | Joan Sheldon |
| Leader of the Opposition of Queensland | |
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In office 19 December 1974 – 28 November 1978 |
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| Preceded by | Perc Tucker |
| Succeeded by | Ed Casey |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Lytton |
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In office 27 May 1972 – 31 May 1996 |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Paul Lucas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Thomas James Burns 27 October 1931 Maryborough, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 4 June 2007 (aged 75) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Australian Labor Party official |
Thomas James Burns OAM (27 October 1931 – 4 June 2007) was an Australian politician who led the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Queensland between 1974 and 1978 and was Deputy Premier of Queensland between 1989 and 1996. He served as the Member for Lytton in the Parliament of Queensland between 1972 and 1996. Burns had previously served as the Federal President of the ALP between 1970 and 1973, playing a key role in modernising the party prior to the election of Gough Whitlam as the Prime Minister of Australia in 1972.
Tom Burns was born in Maryborough, Queensland in October 1931. After attending Brisbane Grammar School, he spent six years in the Royal Australian Air Force before becoming involved in politics.
Burns worked as an organiser for the Labor Party between 1960 and 1965 before his promotion to the position as Queensland State Secretary of the ALP. As State Secretary, he played a critical role in persuading the Queensland delegates to the National Executive to vote against the expulsion of Whitlam from the ALP in 1966.
Senior people wanted Burns to become the National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party in 1969 where he would run the party's campaign in the 1969 Federal election. When he was reluctant, Mick Young was appointed as the National Secretary. .
He was elected as the National President of the ALP in 1970. Burns was heavily involved in Federal intervention in the New South Wales and Victorian branches, conducting a report into the affairs of the NSW Branch and taking over administrative responsibility with Young for the Victorian Branch. His report on the NSW Branch was critical of the running of the 1968 preselection of Paul Keating as the candidate for the Division of Blaxland. The Federal intervention into the Victorian and NSW branches was a critical factor in Labor's success in the 1972 Federal election.
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