Henry Belot
Barry Humphries was ‘one of the funniest people in the world’, Elton John tells memorial
A series of comedians and the superstar Elton John have also recorded video messages to be played at Barry Humphries’ memorial service. Here’s a collection of them.
The British comedian, Jimmy Carr, said:
He was so generous with time and with his talent. I was blown away by him and so incredibly thrilled to have got to know him. He leaves the world a happier place. He was a genius.
Comedian David Walliams:
Later in life, I got to befriend Barry and spend time with him. It was one of the greatest pleasures of my life. He was as funny off stage, as he was on stage, and that can’t be said about many comedians. He has left an incredible legacy that will make us laugh forever.
And Elton John:
Barry Humphries was one of the funniest people in the world, we all know that. He was also one of the kindest and most generous people to me.
It is sad that we won’t be seeing him again, but we have so many memories of him. His books, his TV appearances, and the wonderful jokes and wonderful kindness that he showed to me and everyone.
I hope you all have the most wonderful day there and celebrate with laughter, because that was what Barry was all about. Bless you.
Key events
Andrew Messenger
The new Queensland premier-to-be Steven Miles has announced the creation of a new consultation body called the Queensland Leaders’ Forum.
The body will bring together business, industry, community and unions, similar to the approach taken during the pandemic.
The new premier will outline the new body as his first major speech in the job this afternoon.
He said:
I’ll be outlining this afternoon how I want to bring back that kind of consultative forum where we bring together all of the voices – including unions, they have a very justifiable role – but also business, industry, community leaders, first nations leaders.
I want them all to have a seat at the table and that’s what the Queensland leaders foreign will do.
At a press conference at Queensland parliament, his first since being elected by Labor MPs to the role, he said listening has always been part of his brand.:
What I’ve always done in all of my portfolios is listened to everybody. When I was the environment minister, I didn’t just listen to the environment groups, I spent time with the cane growers. In fact, my first meeting as environment minister was with the cane growers.
In health, I listened to the doctors and the nurses and the experts. But also when Covid hit you’ll remember, health was a concern for everybody.
And we put in place those systems to make sure that leaders from the entirety of Queensland, had a say in how we were responding to Covid and had a say in developing the economic plan that the treasurer has delivered.
Opponents shoot down duck hunting report as a ‘failure’
Duck hunters have been given the green light to keep shooting birds in South Australia, despite claims it is inhumane, threatens endangered species and goes against community expectations, AAP reports.
The RSPCA has slammed a report by a South Australian parliamentary committee into the hunting of native birds, tabled on Thursday.
Its findings “fail animal welfare, fail conservation and fail to meet our community’s expectations for the protection of vulnerable wildlife,” RSPCA SA animal welfare advocate Dr Rebekah Eyers said.
Eyers added:
We estimate up to 10,000 of the approximately 45,000 ducks shot in SA each year will be wounded and left to suffer.
Seeing a hunter swing a wounded duck around by the neck and then dump it on a pile of shot ducks whilst still alive is a horror that I will never forget.
The latest Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey found several native bird species were experiencing significant long-term decline, despite recent wetter La Nina conditions.
The report recommended a series of measures to limit the impacts of hunting on the environment, including requiring hunters to wear visible tags, increasing penalties for bad actors and banning the use of lead shot.
But Eyers said assumptions authorities can effectively regulate the practice are misguided, after a recent Victorian inquiry found compliance monitoring a “near impossible task”.
Andrew Messenger
Qld’s Miles won’t hold Olympics portfolio, will focus on ‘bread and butter’ issues
The new Queensland ministers will replace Craig Crawford, Mark Bailey and Stirling Hinchliffe, who have been sacked or resigned from cabinet.
Annastacia Palaszczuk will also leave cabinet, before she retires from politics entirely in the new year.
Miles paid particular tribute to Crawford, the former minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, who shepherded through parliament legislation setting the state on the pathway to treaty with Aboriginal Queenslanders. He was later appointed child safety minister. Here’s what Miles told reporters:
He can be rightly incredibly proud of the work that he did, towards treaty. And that’s a legacy that can never be taken away. It’s something that he helped shape and deliver. And he should be very, very proud.
The three men who have stepped aside from the cabinet have done the government and ultimately the state a service by doing so because we wanted to have fresh faces, new faces in our team. To do that some people needed to stand aside.
The cabinet is growing by one member.
The new premier said that will be his only title, and he won’t take responsibility for the Olympics and Paralympics like his predecessor did:
I want to send a signal to Queenslanders that my approach as premier, my focus as premier, is 100% on being the premier, 100% on delivering for them and the things that they need. Bread and butter issues, their day-to-day concerns, and that’s why my title will be Queensland premier.
Andrew Messenger
Incoming Qld premier Miles to reshuffle cabinet
Steven Miles will appoint 10 new ministers and assistant ministers after he is sworn in as Queensland premier today.
Nikki Boyd, Bart Mellish, Lance McCallum, Michael Healy and Charis Mullen will enter the cabinet as full ministers.
Ali King, Shane King, Jimmy Sullivan, Jen Howard and Corrine McMillan have been elected assistant ministers
The new faces were elevated at a Labor caucus meeting at Queensland parliament today. Miles and incoming deputy premier Cameron Dick were also elected to be the new leader and deputy leader of the party.
Miles said the cabinet reshuffle was a way to refresh the government, which is in its ninth year in office:
That’s the most number of new ministers Queensland has seen since we were first elected in 2015. They are younger, they are energetic, they are ready to deliver a fresh approach for Queenslanders.
Miles and Dick will now travel to Government House where Governor Jeannette Young will swear them in as premier and deputy premier.
Sydney Opera House sails to be lit in tribute to Barry Humphries
The MC at Barry Humphries’ memorial service, Richard Wilkins, has announced the sails of Sydney Opera House will be lit in a tribute to the comedian from 830pm tonight.
Luminaries from the arts and entertainment circles, along with politicians and business people, are at the service to ‘farewell’ the man they say was as funny off stage as he was on stage.
For those who couldn’t attend in person, such as Elton John, there were ‘pretenders’ on hand to fill the gap.
If you missed it earlier, here’s more from my colleague Benita Kolovos on the $10bn cost blowout for Victoria’s largest road project:
Henry Belot
Rupert Murdoch: ‘political correctness’ never ‘strangled’ Humphries
Rupert Murdoch has paid tribute to Barry Humphies in a video message that referenced political correctness. Murdoch said that “in a linear world”, Humphries was a rare example of “the lateral”:
It takes courage to strut on stage. To be judged by an audience night after night. You confess that you suffer severely from stage fright, and yet you tread the boards with a confidence that brings the crowd with you.
I’m struck by your self awareness, in understanding the nature of laughter. As you say, when people laugh at me, they are not laughing in the way they normally would be for a comedian. They are laughing with relief because the truth has been spoken, and political correctness has not strangled this particular [star]. Barry, you will never be strangled, you will never be silenced, your voice still echoes, your wisdom still enlightens, and your friendship still recites deeply in my heart.
The NSW premier,Chris Minns, has also spoken at the memorial service:
The Sydney Opera House is a fitting place to say our goodbyes to Barry, not just because of its sails or its dramatic exterior… but because of what’s inside: the stage. It was on that stage, before an audience, where he was most at home.
Henry Belot
Barry Humphries was ‘one of the funniest people in the world’, Elton John tells memorial
A series of comedians and the superstar Elton John have also recorded video messages to be played at Barry Humphries’ memorial service. Here’s a collection of them.
The British comedian, Jimmy Carr, said:
He was so generous with time and with his talent. I was blown away by him and so incredibly thrilled to have got to know him. He leaves the world a happier place. He was a genius.
Comedian David Walliams:
Later in life, I got to befriend Barry and spend time with him. It was one of the greatest pleasures of my life. He was as funny off stage, as he was on stage, and that can’t be said about many comedians. He has left an incredible legacy that will make us laugh forever.
And Elton John:
Barry Humphries was one of the funniest people in the world, we all know that. He was also one of the kindest and most generous people to me.
It is sad that we won’t be seeing him again, but we have so many memories of him. His books, his TV appearances, and the wonderful jokes and wonderful kindness that he showed to me and everyone.
I hope you all have the most wonderful day there and celebrate with laughter, because that was what Barry was all about. Bless you.
Power should be back on for 80% of far north Qld homes by Saturday night
Ergon Energy will aim to restore power to 80% of the 15,000 homes and businesses facing outages in far north Queensland by Saturday night, and complete the remaining 20% by next Tuesday.
It comes after power to 25,000 had been restored after nearly 40,000 homes lost power on Wednesday as ex-tropical cyclone Jasper crossed the coastline.
Ergon’s chief operating officer Paul Jordon said the restoration plan might be hampered by rain forecast to continue to lash the region, and by additional damage to the network.
A major flood warning for the Daintree and the Barwon river remains in place.
There are also moderate to minor flood warnings for the Mossman, Barron, Mulgrave, Russell, Tully and Murray rivers.
The heaviest rainfall has been recorded at Cairns, Port Douglas and the Daintree, with the latter receiving almost 800mm in the past 48 hours.
Andrew Messenger
Incoming Queensland premier Steven Miles: ‘we’ll make history today’
Queensland premier-to-be Steven Miles declared “we’ll make history today” as he arrived at a party caucus meeting this morning.
Miles and treasurer Cameron Dick will be endorsed as premier and deputy premier by Labor MPs at parliament house today.
They arrived to rapturous applause.
Miles joked that he didn’t have time to hug all of the 51 MPs at the meeting.
They will be sworn in by Governor Jeannette Young later today.
The caucus will also elect several new members of cabinet, in advance of a reshuffle, which is expected to be announced Monday.
Miles replaces Annastacia Palaszczuk, who served as premier for nine years and won three elections. She took the party back into government after a wipeout election which reduced the party to seven MPs, defeating Campbell Newman.
Henry Belot
Humphries memorial: Barry always had the final word, says Albanese
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has also addressed the memorial service for Barry Humphries. Here’s part of Albanese’s video message that was played to the audience at Sydney Opera House:
No matter how unruly his creations became, it was Barry who had the final word. And what a word it was. Barry had the ultimate power, a power he exercised with the glee that never knew any bounds.
Just like this place, he brought people from every state and territory together. And in the process, this genius, this comedic giant brought such joy to every part of Australia. Then, like a never ending bunch of gladiolus, he showered it upon the world.
