Don Burke

Donald William "Don" Burke OAM (born 15 July 1947) is an Australian television presenter, television producer, author and horticulturist. He is best known as the longtime host of Burke's Backyard, a lifestyle program produced by his wife's company CTC Productions which ran for 17 years from 1987 to late 2004 on the Nine Network. He was also responsible of for the creation of garden makeover program Backyard Blitz, starring former colleague Jamie Durie and Renovation Rescue

Career

In 2004, Business Review Weekly listed Burke among its top 50 entertainers list, saying he earned an estimate A$7.2 million in 2004.

Burke is a professional Horticulturist and former board member of Landcare Australia Limited and has been active in a number of other public roles. He has been an outspoken critic of numerous environmental advocacy groups. From July 2005 to late 2008, Burke was the Chair of the Australian Environment Foundation, a group that has links to the politically conservative Institute of Public Affairs.

Don Burke (ice hockey)

Don Burke (born 25 January 1968 in Penticton, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, currently playing ice hockey for the Bartercard Gold Coast Blue Tongues of the Australian Ice Hockey League.

Playing career

A 6'2" defenceman, Burke played junior hockey for the Summerland Buckaroos of the BCJHL in 1985-86 and 1987–88, Prince George Spruce Kings of the Peace Caribou Junior Hockey League in 1986-87 and Kelowna Packers of the BCJHL in 1988-89 and went on to play three seasons at the University of Alabama in Huntsville an Independent in NCAA Division 1 from 1989-92. Burke attended Vancouver Canucks training camp in 1992 and from there, became a journeyman as he played for seven different franchises across four leagues in just three seasons. Among the teams he played for were: Atlanta Knights of the IHL, Memphis RiverKings of the CHL, Roanoke Valley Rampage of the ECHL (and later the same franchise under a new name, the Huntsville Blast), Tulsa Oilers, Wichita Thunder, and Dallas Freeze of the CHL and West Palm Beach Blaze in the Sunshine Hockey League operated primarily by Bill Nyrop ex-Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Champion. Burke was a member of the West Palm Beach Blaze championship team of 1995, directly followed by representing an SHL 'All Star Team' in an 3-game exhibition series against the French National Ice Hockey Team which the SHL won 3 games to zero.