Harry Holgate

Harold Norman Holgate AO (5 December 1933 – 16 March 1997) was an Australian politician. He was premier of Tasmania from 1981 to 1982, serving as state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) during that period. He succeeded Doug Lowe as party leader and premier during internal conflict over the Franklin Dam controversy, leading the ALP to defeat at the 1982 state election just over six months after taking office.

Early life Holgate was born on 5 December 1933 in Maitland, New South Wales. He was the son of Aleen Margaret (née Norman) and Harold William Holgate. His father, a journalist by profession, was killed in action during World War II while serving with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Holgate attended Maitland Boys' High School. He joined the Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet in 1952 and later moved to Melbourne where he worked for The Herald. He was also active in radio and television. He was the newspaper's political correspondent and deputy chief of staff, later transferring to the state government's Directorate of Industrial Development and Trade where he was a publicity manager. He joined ABC Television in 1970 as the executive producer of the Tasmanian edition of This Day Tonight. Holgate was reinstated to the ABC after the 1972 election and the four reporters subsequently resigned.

Politics Holgate joined the ALP in the 1950s. He first stood for parliament at the 1972 state election, unsuccessfully contesting the seat of Bass. He subsequently served as press secretary to Tasmanian MP and deputy prime minister Lance Barnard.

By March 1982, Holgate's public approval rating as premier was just 11 percent, with 66 percent disapproving of his performance according to a Morgan Gallup poll. He resigned as leader after the election, stating that he had "tried my best, but we were brought down before I could lead the Labor government back into a position of public esteem".

Until Lara Giddings in 2014, Holgate was the last defeated Premier who did not then serve as Leader of the Opposition. When the ALP next achieved government in 1989, under Michael Field, Holgate was not included in the cabinet. Nevertheless, he remained a member of parliament until he retired at the 1992 election.

Personal life In 1957, Holgate married Katharine White, the daughter of federal parliamentary librarian Harold White. They soon divorced and in 1963 he remarried to Rosalind Wesley, with whom he had four children.

Holgate was diagnosed with lung and liver cancer in 1996. He died on 16 March 1997 in Hillwood, Tasmania, and was granted a state funeral.