Prime minister, along with Rupert Murdoch and Barry Humphries, paid tribute to late cartoonist as free-thinker at memorial service

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch have paid tribute to Bill Leak, labelling the late cartoonist a free-thinker and defender of freedom.

“He was accused of racism because of a cartoon,” Turnbull said during a Sydney memorial service for Leak who died, aged 61, of a suspected heart attack a week ago.

“A cartoon that united Australians in defence of freedom.”

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The prime minister was referring to one of Leak’s most controversial works, a cartoon depicting a drunk Aboriginal father who had forgotten his own son’s name.

Leak was investigated for a possible breach of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act but the racism complaint was subsequently dropped.

Turnbull was one of many prominent figures who attended Friday’s memorial in Sydney Town Hall. Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard, cabinet ministers Peter Dutton and Mitch Fifield, crossbench senators Derryn Hinch and Malcolm Roberts, satirist Barry Humphries, Leak’s former colleagues at the Australian and other conservative figures also attended.

Turnbull, who was depicted in a portrait by Leak for the Archibald Prize in 1994, said his cartoons embodied the freedom to agree or disagree with ideas. There was nothing more Australian than challenging authority, he added. “We don’t look up or down, we look each other in the eye. Side by side. Mates.”

Murdoch, in a letter read out by the Australian’s editor-in-chief, Paul Whittaker, described Leak as one of the world’s best political cartoonists. “He was a fine example of the Australian tradition of free-thinking, a fearless opponent of hypocrisy,” Murdoch, who wasn’t at the memorial, wrote.

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“I am proud to have known him as a colleague and a friend.”

Humphries criticised those who continued attacks on Leak after his death, labelling them “low-lifes”. “He’s been snatched from the jaws of the PC jackals,” the comedian said.

Humphries also poked fun at the Australian Human Rights Commission saying he did not normally enjoy memorials. “The only one I would have enjoyed would be the funeral of the Human Rights Commission.”

Outside the service, one supporter held up a poster about the cartoonist’s contest with section 18C.

“Wanted: for the untimely death of Bill Leak and other crimes against western civilisation, Gillian Triggs, Tim Soutphommasane, 18c and their rotten commission,” it read.

Leak died in Gosford Hospital last Friday.