Chief Minister
In February 1999, CLP Chief Minister Shane Stone resigned, and Burke was soon appointed as his replacement. He also continued on as Attorney-General, and took on several additional portfolios. Burke's term as Chief Minister is probably most remembered for his vehement defence of the territory's mandatory sentencing policy, which required a minimum of 90 days imprisonment after someone had been convicted three times, regardless of how minor the offence. Though it had been introduced by the Stone government, much of the controversy surrounding the laws fell to the new Burke government. The policy was eventually toned down slightly for juveniles after Prime Minister John Howard and federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams intervened. While the policy led to criticism from some prominent organisations, it also created a significant debate about the issue on a national level, and some national polls suggested that a majority of Australians supported the stand. However, Burke's stance was also to lead to some scandal in late 2000, when he demanded the resignation of a magistrate (Alasdair McGregor) who had criticised his mandatory sentencing laws. The comments sparked contempt of court charges and angry criticism from the Chief Justice and the bar.
By the time Burke faced his first election at the 2001 election, the Country Liberal Party had been in power in the Northern Territory for 27 years. He called the election on a minor high, only weeks after the beginning of construction on the Adelaide-Darwin Railway, a major infrastructure project that had been planned for decades. However, his chances suffered a blow when a planned deal concerning gas from the Timor Sea, which would have produced significant employment opportunities in the territory, ran into difficulties and had to be postponed. He also caused some controversy by deciding to preference the far-right-wing One Nation Party - which was considerably unpopular in the territory's large ethnic community - over the left-wing Australian Labor Party in five seats around Katherine. This had the effect of allowing ALP Opposition Leader Clare Martin to claim that the only way to resist One Nation influence was to vote for the ALP. Several weeks later, Burke apologised for the decision, admitting that the tactic had backfired and had cost him a number of votes.
In addition, the election fell against the backdrop of an ALP resurgence across the nation. In the preceding eighteen months, two Liberal state governments that had been thought highly secure (Victoria and Western Australia) had fallen to the ALP and two incumbent ALP governments had been easily re-elected. While there was some speculation that the ALP could win their first NT election, electoral opinion national was swinging back towards the CLP's federal counterparts. Most commentators were predicting a close result, but suggesting that the CLP would be returned. However, in a shock result, the ALP achieved majority government by one seat, and Burke, suddenly out of government, became Opposition Leader.
Read more about this topic: Denis Burke (Australian Politician)
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