{"id":723591,"date":"2026-06-08T19:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723591\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:09:23","slug":"state-funeral-offered-for-former-senator-and-priest-michael-tate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723591\/","title":{"rendered":"State funeral offered for former senator and priest Michael Tate"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement this afternoon, the pair described Tate as \u201can outstanding Australian whose life was defined by conviction, faith and service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael\u2019s contribution to our nation was extraordinary in both its breadth and its depth,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe excelled as a parliamentarian, minister, diplomat and, ultimately, as a Catholic priest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jeremy Rockliff have offered a state funeral for Michael Tate. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Tate died around lunchtime on Friday at Calvary Hospital in Lenah Valley, Hobart.<\/p>\n

Born in Sydney on July 6, 1945, Tate was educated at St Virgil\u2019s College in Hobart and graduated with first class honours in law from the University of Tasmania in 1968.<\/p>\n

\"\"Former senator and Catholic priest Michael Tate died on Friday aged 80. Image \/ ABC<\/p>\n

He completed a master\u2019s degree in theology at the University of Oxford in 1971.<\/p>\n

Tate entered federal politics as a senator for Tasmania in the late 1970s and served for 15 years.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He was later appointed Australia\u2019s ambassador to the Holy See and the Hague from 1993 to 1996.<\/p>\n

\"\"Former senator and Catholic priest Michael Tate died on Friday aged 80<\/p>\n

In a deeply personal move, Tate told Pope John Paul II as he left his Vatican posting that he\u2019d begin studying for the priesthood.<\/p>\n

He was ordained in May 2000 at St Mary\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Rockliff praised Tate as a person of remarkable intellect and deep faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather Tate brought intellect, integrity and humanity to every role he held,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFew Tasmanians have lived such a rich and varied life of service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archbishop Tony Ireland, who administered the last rites shortly before Tate\u2019s death, described him as \u201cone of a kind, gifted intellectually, a powerful communicator, and an extraordinarily generous and faithful pastor who loved his people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tate was also Tasmania\u2019s first parliamentary standards commissioner from 2010 and founded the Way to St James Cygnet, an annual pilgrimage through the Huon Valley.<\/p>\n

Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced in coming days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff have offered a state funeral for former senator, diplomat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-723591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}