Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff have offered a state funeral for former senator, diplomat and Catholic priest Michael Tate, who died on Friday at the age of 80.
In a joint statement this afternoon, the pair described Tate as “an outstanding Australian whose life was defined by conviction, faith and service.”
“Michael’s contribution to our nation was extraordinary in both its breadth and its depth,” the statement said.
“He excelled as a parliamentarian, minister, diplomat and, ultimately, as a Catholic priest.”
Tate died around lunchtime on Friday at Calvary Hospital in Lenah Valley, Hobart.
Born in Sydney on July 6, 1945, Tate was educated at St Virgil’s College in Hobart and graduated with first class honours in law from the University of Tasmania in 1968.
He completed a master’s degree in theology at the University of Oxford in 1971.
Tate entered federal politics as a senator for Tasmania in the late 1970s and served for 15 years.
As minister for justice under the Hawke and Keating governments, he played a key role in establishing the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1987 and started a national review of gun control laws.
He was later appointed Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See and the Hague from 1993 to 1996.
In a deeply personal move, Tate told Pope John Paul II as he left his Vatican posting that he’d begin studying for the priesthood.
He was ordained in May 2000 at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart and went on to serve as parish priest across several southern Tasmanian communities including Sandy Bay, the Huon Valley and South Hobart.
Rockliff praised Tate as a person of remarkable intellect and deep faith.
“Father Tate brought intellect, integrity and humanity to every role he held,” he said.
“Few Tasmanians have lived such a rich and varied life of service.”
Archbishop Tony Ireland, who administered the last rites shortly before Tate’s death, described him as “one of a kind, gifted intellectually, a powerful communicator, and an extraordinarily generous and faithful pastor who loved his people.”
Tate was also Tasmania’s first parliamentary standards commissioner from 2010 and founded the Way to St James Cygnet, an annual pilgrimage through the Huon Valley.
Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in coming days.
