Chris Bourke

{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{for|the English professional boxer|Chris Bourke (boxer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Chris Bourke | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | office = Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly | constituency = Ginninderra | term_start = 1 June 2011 | term_end = 15 October 2016 | predecessor = Jon Stanhope | successor = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | party = Labor Party | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Melbourne University | occupation = | profession = Dentist | signature = | website = {{URL|chrisbourke.com.au}} | footnotes = }}

'''Christopher John Bourke''' is an Australian politician, a Labor member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Ginninderra from 2011 to 2016. He was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly.<ref name="ctimes-election">{{cite news|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/bourke-to-be-first-indigenous-mla/2178930.aspx|title=Bourke to be first indigenous MLA|work=The Canberra Times|date=30 May 2011|access-date=30 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818074655/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/bourke-to-be-first-indigenous-mla/2178930.aspx|archive-date=18 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> He filled the casual vacancy created by the resignation of former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.<ref name="actec-declated">{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.act.gov.au/news/view/146/title/dr-chris-bourke-officially-declared|title=Dr Chris Bourke officially declared elected to fill the casual vacancy|publisher=ACT Electoral Commission|date=1 June 2011|accessdate=1 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318120829/http://elections.act.gov.au/news/view/146/title/dr-chris-bourke-officially-declared|archivedate=18 March 2012}}</ref>

Bourke grew up in country Australia.<ref name="healthinfonet" /> He graduated from Melbourne University in 1982, where he was the first Indigenous Australian to complete a dentistry degree.<ref name="rdaact">{{cite web|title=Congratulations Chris Bourke|publisher=Regional Development Australia, ACT|url=http://rdaact.org.au/2011/06/congratulations-chris-bourke/|date=1 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825173123/http://rdaact.org.au/2011/06/congratulations-chris-bourke/|archivedate=25 August 2011}}</ref> He undertook graduate studies at the University of Adelaide and the University of Sydney.<ref name="healthinfonet">{{cite web|url=http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/about/consultants?pid=3|title=Dr Christopher Bourke|publisher=Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet|accessdate=2 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415182643/http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/about/consultants?pid=3|archive-date=15 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Prior to being elected in 2011, Bourke worked as a dentist, performing locum dentistry work in remote areas of Australia after a period of private practice in Canberra. He is President of the Indigenous Dentists' Association of Australia.<ref name="idaa">{{cite web|title=Indigenous Dentists' Association of Australia|url=http://www.idaa.com.au/IDAA/Home.html|accessdate=2 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423004612/http://www.idaa.com.au/IDAA/Home.html|archivedate=23 April 2011}}</ref>

==Political career== Bourke was elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly following the resignation of former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.<ref name="actec-declated"/> His election was the result of a countback of ballots cast for Stanhope in the 2008 Australian Capital Territory election.<ref name="actec-election">{{cite web|url=http://www.elections.act.gov.au/news/view/143/title/casual-vacancy-count-back-result-mr|title=Casual vacancy countback result: Mr Chris Bourke to be elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly|publisher=ACT Electoral Commission|date=30 May 2011|accessdate=1 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320094936/http://www.elections.act.gov.au/news/view/143/title/casual-vacancy-count-back-result-mr|archivedate=20 March 2012}}</ref> Following his election, Mr Bourke was made Minister of Education, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations, and Minister for Corrections until the 2012 election, when he was not reappointed as a minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/section.php?v=20&m=143|title=ACT Government Media Releases|date=16 August 2021}}</ref>

On 22 January 2016, Bourke was reappointed as a minister, and was made Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Disability, Minister for Small Business and the Arts and Minister for Veterans and Seniors.<ref>{{cite web|title= Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Ministerial Appointment 2016 (No 1)|url=https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/View/ni/2016-42/20160122-62762/PDF/2016-42.PDF}}</ref> Bourke was defeated at the 2016 election in October.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links==  *{{Official website|http://www.chrisbourke.com.au}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Chris}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Category:Australian dentists Category:University of Melbourne alumni Category:Indigenous Australian politicians Category:21st-century Australian politicians