said to Parliament "how many members of this House can say that all the refugees coming here are genuine? Can a refugee be defined as being genuine if they have the ability to commandeer a boat and come to this country?" In 1980, Burke began to prominently campaign against the death penalty. He made headlines by calling for public executions in places such as Forrest Place with the cabinet members responsible for the execution to be there. Path to premier Over the 1970s, the Labor Party failed to come close to defeating the Liberal/National Country Coalition led by Charles Court. The Coalition had an advantage due to malapportionment favouring rural areas. After the 1977 election, Burke contested the Labor Party's deputy leadership, but was beaten by Mal Bryce by one vote. Following the 1980 election, Burke, Arthur Tonkin and Bryce began planning to remove Davies as party leader. With Tonkin never in serious leadership contention, Burke had to convince Bryce that he was the best man to lead the party. Bryce eventually came around for Burke, reasoning that Burke had better media and fundraising skills, necessary as the party was short on funds. Bryce told his followers to support Burke, who mostly went through with that. There was some trepidation however, with a few people seeing him as a risk. On 18 September 1981, Burke defeated Davies in a Labor Party leadership spill 20 votes to 11, and so he became the leader of the opposition. Bryce was elected deputy leader of the Labor Party and so he became the deputy leader of the opposition. He then appointed the Burke shadow ministry. Burke himself was appointed shadow treasurer and the shadow minister for immigration, ethnic affairs, economic affairs, federal affairs and aboriginal affairs. At 34 years old, Burke was the fourth-youngest ever opposition leader. Upon becoming leader, Burke said to Bryce, "are we happy and agreed—I’m responsible for image and marketing; you’re responsible for policy and substance". Following his ascension to the leadership of the Labor Party, Burke changed his demeanour. In an effort to remove his image as a larrikin, he asked a colleague to prepare a paper on the type of persona to show to the public. He lost weight and wore dark business suits. Burke took inspiration from populist American politician Huey Long, who had positioned himself as a champion of the poor. Beazley had given Burke