John Brian Burke is a former mayor of Porirua City, Wellington Region, New Zealand. Prior to his time as mayor from 1983 to 1998, he served 12 years as a city councillor with six years from 1977 to 1983 as deputy mayor. After a 15-year departure from the city council, in 2013 he stood for election as a city councillor in the eastern ward and was elected with a comfortable majority, increasing his majority at the 2016 local authority elections. In September 2019 Burke announced he would not be seeking re-election, ending continuous public office which began in 1971.
Burke was first elected a Porirua city councillor in 1971 and was re-elected in 1974, 1977 and 1980. He became deputy mayor in 1977 and remained in that position until he was elected mayor in 1983. In 1974 he was elected to the Hutt Valley Energy Board, becoming chairman in 1986 and continuing to serve in that role until the then government abolished publicly elected power boards in 1990. He has remained continuously in public office for 48 years and was at the time of his retirement, the longest serving person in public office in the Wellington region. He has also served on the boards of several national organisations including Sister Cities New Zealand, the Electricity Supply Association, Local Government New Zealand, The New Zealand Gas Association, The Community Gaming Association and the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association. Burke was elected mayor of Porirua City in 1983 and was re-elected in 1986, 1989, 1992 and 1995. He is a former Hutt Mana Charitable Trustee, has chaired the trust on several occasions, has chaired the Porirua Community Trust and the Mana Community Grants Foundation. He also served as a Wellington Regional Councillor from 2007 to 2010. During his time as mayor, Burke received several invitations to address international conferences on the topics of local government in New Zealand and on the benefits of sister city programmes. This included conferences in the United States of America, Japan, Israel and Australia. Also in 1991 he addressed the New Zealand Society of Accountants Public Sector annual conference on the subject of local government financial reforms. He was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours and received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for services to New Zealand. During Burke's time as Porirua's mayor from 1983 to 1998, he oversaw a significant transformation in Porirua's reputation, major growth of the City. Burke was also responsible for leading significant commercial development in Porirua and for bringing the communities of Pauatahanui and Whitby into the City. Much of the continuing economic growth in Porirua today is credited to the Burke leadership of Porirua City. Following his retirement from the mayoralty, Burke has worked in real estate.
Personal life
Burke married his wife Linda in 1967. They have two married sons and four grandchildren.
Honorific eponym
In 2012 John Burke Drive in Porirua's Aotea sub-division was named in his honour.
