Henry Jefferson Percival "Jeff" Bate (5 March 190615 April 1984) was an Australian politician, representing the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

and the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

for most of his career, but ended as an independent.

Early life

Jeff Bate was born in

Tilba, New South Wales Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba are two villages near the Princes Highway in Eurobodalla Shire, New South Wales, Australia. At the , Central Tilba and surrounding areas had a population of 342 (Tilba Tilba had 102). Central Tilba is located aro ...

on 5 March 1906, a son of Henry John Bate, a Member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

, and his wife Lily Percival, a leading

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

. He was educated at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1918–21),

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, bo ...

(1922–23) and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He became a farmer at Bodalla,

Wallaga Lake Wallaga Lake is an estuarine lake in Bega Valley Shire in New South Wales, Australia, the largest lake in southern NSW. It is located between Bermagui, New South Wales, Bermagui to the south and between Tilba Tilba to the north, situated beneath ...

and Tilba Tilba. He won prizes for dairy fodder conservation at the Royal Agricultural Society show.

Career

Bate became director of the Bodalla Co-operative Dairy Company from 1927, later managing the cheese co-operative. He was a Councillor of the

Eurobodalla Shire Eurobodalla Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located in a largely mountainous coastal region and situated ...

Council 1929–37, and its President 1936–37. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the 2nd Australian Imperial Forces as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. He was a member of the Armoured Corps in 1940–45, and saw service in Egypt, Cyprus, the Middle East, New Guinea and New Britain. He followed his father's footsteps into the NSW Legislative Assembly, where he represented the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is part of the Macarthur and Blue Mountains regions. The Wol ...

from 1938 to 1949. He represented the

until 1945, then joined the newly founded

. He moved to federal politics, and in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

he was elected as the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

member for the seat of

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

. In the lead-up to the 1972 federal election, Bate lost Liberal

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

in Macarthur to

Max Dunbier Maxwell John Rowland "Max" Dunbier (3 February 1938 – 14 September 2016) was an Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Campbelltown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1968 to 1971. Dunbier was born in Guildfor ...

, a former state MP. At a meeting in

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and the Southern Highl ...

on 9 October, he agreed to re-contest the seat as an independent. He immediately ruled out supporting a Labor government if re-elected. A "Bring Back Bate Committee" was established to coordinate his campaign. He decision to stand against an endorsed Liberal candidate resulted in his party membership automatically lapsing. At the election he placed third on

first preferences A first-preference is a voter's most-preferred candidate. In certain ranked systems such as first preference plurality, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and the single transferable vote, first preferences for a candidate are considered most important ...

behind Dunbier and ALP candidate

John Kerin John Charles Kerin (21 November 1937 – 29 March 2023) was an Australian economist and Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial r ...

, who was elected.

Marriages

Bate was married three times: in 1928 to Gerta Ellen Homburg (1907-1985) (two children, John and Margaret); in 1958 to future

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...

president

Thelma Kirkby Thelma Florence Bate CBE (; 3 August 1904 – 26 July 1984) was an Australian community leader and women's activist. Early life and education Born Thelma Florence Olsen in Sydney on 3 August 1904, she was the daughter of Norwegian seaman Olaf ...

; and on 19 February 1969 to Dame Zara Holt, the widow of Prime Minister

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...

Death

Bate died in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

on 15 April 1984, aged 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bate, Jeff Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macarthur Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1906 births 1984 deaths People educated at Newington College Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Australian MPs 1949–1951 Australian MPs 1951–1954 Australian MPs 1954–1955 Australian MPs 1955–1958 Australian MPs 1958–1961 Australian MPs 1961–1963 Australian MPs 1963–1966 Australian MPs 1966–1969 Australian MPs 1969–1972