Graham Richardson funeral: Anthony Albanese delivers eulogy for Labor powerhouse figure
The funeral of former Labor minister Graham Richardson on Tuesday morning attracted leading figures from politics and the media, including Anthony Albanese, former prime minister Tony Abbott, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, former radio host Alan Jones, former NSW premier Bob Carr, philanthropist Roslyn Packer, radio broadcaster Ben Fordham and surgeon Charlie Teo.
But the two children from his first marriage, Matthew Richardson and Kate Ausden, were not acknowledged by any of the speakers and were not seen entering St James Cathedral in central Sydney.
Elected Australia’s youngest-ever senator at 33 in 1983, Mr Richardson was a leader of the Labor Party’s right faction and credited with much of the party’s success in NSW in the 1980s and the election of the Hawke Federal government in 1983.
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After leaving elected politics in 1994, he became a political commentator, including hosting a show on Sky News, Richo, while acting as an informal adviser to young politicians, including Defence Minister Richard Marles, who recorded a video tribute for the funeral.
The service was moved from St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, which declined the family’s request for a private-school boys choir, multiple speeches and other non-religious elements.
The service began with the national anthem. The Prime Minister, who gave the first of several eulogies, said the Labor senator had a “rogue’s charm” and an instinctive capacity to disarm”.
“He played his politics very hard but could put old grudges and grievances aside,” Mr Albanese said. “He was the master of unlikely friendships.”
His second wife, Amanda Richardson and their son Darcy, were mentioned repeatedly. Mr Richardson was reportedly estranged from his first two children and had not had any contact with Ms Ausden for nine years, according to a statement from the family reported by the Daily Mail.
Mr Jones, a former radio broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to sexual offences, said as he entered the church: “In politics, there are people with fire extinguishers and people with cans of petrol.
“That man had a can of petrol and if you were on the wrong side of him, you got burned badly. He, like all of us, had his sins, but on the balance of things, he is a great guy.”
