[1] Between 2004 and 2008 he served as Minister of Interior in the centre-right government led by Janez Janša and between 2011 and 2014, he was a deputy in the National Assembly.

Mate was born in Čakovec, Croatia,[2] (then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) to Croatian parents.

[3] He spent his childhood in the city of Maribor in eastern Slovenia, where his parents moved for professional reasons.

After the victory of the left-wing coalition led by Borut Pahor in the 2008 parliamentary elections, he was replaced by Katarina Kresal.

On 17 February he and two other members were excluded and replaced on the Executive Council (Izvršni odbor) of the SDS due to inactivity.