Michael Carter Tate AO (born 6 July 1945) is a legal academic and former

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

politician who later became an ambassador and then a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Early life and education

Michael Carter Tate was born in Sydney on 6 July 1945. He was educated at

St Virgil's College St Virgil's College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located over two campuses in Austins Ferry and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Established in 1911 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, the College has ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, and then studied law at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

, where he resided at

St. John Fisher College St. John Fisher University is a private university in Rochester, New York in the United States. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022. History St. John F ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in 1968. He attributed his achievement to the long hours he spent in libraries, rather than in sporting or social activities, while recovering from a serious road accident in 1963, which hospitalised him in neck-to-knee plaster for five months and required further operations for the next eight years.Bruce Montgomery, "For God and country", ''Weekend Australian'', 25–26 September 1999, p. 28 He later gained a Master of Arts in theology from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1971.

Career

Early career

Tate worked as a lecturer in law at the University of Tasmania Faculty of Law from 1972 to 1978, serving as dean of the faculty from 1977 to 1978. He served as legal adviser to the Tasmanian Parliamentary Delegation to the Constitutional Conventions from 1973 to 1977, and was a member of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace from 1972 to 1978.

Politics

He was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

representing

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, at the 1977 election, his term commencing on 1 July 1978. He was re-elected in 1983, 1987 and 1993. He was President of the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship 1985 to 1988. In 1986 he chaired two Senate enquiries into the conduct of his former Labor colleague and now High Court justice

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam government, and then sat on the ...

. He concluded that on the civil law standard of proof, the balance of probabilities, Murphy had a case to answer on the charge of perverting the course of justice, but not if the criminal standard, beyond reasonable doubt, was applied. He served as

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1987 to 1993 in the Hawke and Keating governments, in addition to other portfolios. He resigned from the Senate on 5 July 1993. After leaving politics he was appointed Australian ambassador to the Netherlands and the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, before retiring to enter the priesthood.

Priesthood

On 19 May 2000 he was ordained by the Archbishop of Hobart, the Most Rev.

Adrian Leo Doyle Adrian Leo Doyle AM (born 16 November 1936) is an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the tenth Archbishop of Hobart. Early life and education Adrian Doyle was born in Hobart, Tasmania, to Leo and Gertrude (née O'Donnel ...

in St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart. Guests included former Governor-General

Bill Hayden William George Hayden (23 January 1933 – 21 October 2023) was an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 198 ...

, former Prime Minister,

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

, and former Attorneys-General

Lionel Bowen Lionel Frost Bowen (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1977 to 1990 and served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Australia in the Hawke g ...

and Michael Duffy. Congratulatory messages were received from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. That night, he told the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's '' 7.30 Report'' that during his last audience with the Pope as Ambassador to the Holy See, John Paul II asked him what his next posting would be. John Paul was somewhat surprised when Tate told him he would be studying for the priesthood.Father Michael Tate on religion and politics
''The 7.30 Report'' (ABC TV), 19 May 2000. Tate worked as parish priest of the Roman Catholic Parishes of Bridgewater, Sandy Bay, Huon Valley, and currently serves as parish priest of South Hobart. He is Vicar General of the

Archdiocese of Hobart The Archdiocese of Hobart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Hobart and covering Tasmania, Australia. Immediately Exemption (Catholic canon law), exempt to the Holy See, the ...

. In April 2008, Tate participated in the Future of Australian Governance Committee at the

Australia 2020 Summit The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention, referred to in Australian media as a summit, which was held over 18–19 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, aiming to "help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future". Ann ...

as a general summit delegate. On 18 November 2010, Tate was appointed as Tasmania's first Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. The role was established under the Integrity Commission Act 2009. The Commissioner is independent of the Integrity Commission and provides advice to Members of Parliament and the Integrity Commission about conduct, propriety and ethics and the interpretation of any relevant codes of conduct and guidelines relating to the conduct of Members of Parliament. On top of his ministry, Tate has continued his research in law, particularly in the area of

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...

, and currently works in a part-time capacity as Honorary Research Professor at the University of Tasmania's Faculty of Law. He was a member of

Australian Red Cross Australian Red Cross, formally Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1914 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, Australian Red Cross Society is ...

's International Humanitarian Law Committee.

Honours

In 1992 and 1996, respectively, Tate was awarded

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s from the University of Tasmania and

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

. In the 1996

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...

, he was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO). All of these awards honoured the role Tate played as Federal Minister for Justice. He was invited to give the Newman Lecture at Mannix College,

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

References

External links

7.30 Report transcript

Parliamentary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Michael 1945 births Living people People educated at St Virgil's College Alumni of the University of Oxford University of Tasmania alumni Academic staff of the University of Tasmania Ambassadors of Australia to the Holy See Ambassadors of Australia to the Netherlands Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Roman Catholic priests Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for justice of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia