Barry Humphries will receive a joint state funeral with Victoria and New South Wales, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed.
Humphries, famed for his longstanding characters such as Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, died aged 89 on April 22.
Speaking to TV host Piers Morgan in the UK, Albanese said the funeral for the “quintessential Australian character” would be co-hosted by the two state governments, along with the Commonwealth.
“My government will be a part of that as well,” Albanese said.
He praised the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for deciding to ultimately include a tribute to Humphries, after he butted heads with event organisers over allegedly transphobic comments in recent years.
“I think people, legitimately can put forward their concerns about someone’s comments that were made then,” Albanese said.
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“But at the same time, I think that we’ve got to be able to laugh at ourselves.”
He said Humphries had brought an “enormous amount of pleasure” to generations of Australians.
“We’ll be paying tribute to him at a state funeral,” he said.
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