Paul Keating pays tribute to Neville Wran: a giant of politics and swearing

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/neville-wran-keating-state-funeral

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The former prime minister Paul Keating has paid tribute to Neville Wran, describing him as a "big figure" in Australian politics.

Keating was among up to 1,500 people at the former New South Wales premier's state funeral in Sydney on Thursday.

"Neville Wran was a big figure," the former PM said at Sydney's Town Hall.

"I doubt there would be a soul here who does not believe the public of NSW owes him a great debt, because the Labor party certainly does."

Wran was premier from May 1976 to June 1986, winning four elections including the massive 1978 and 1981 "Wranslide" victories.

He died at a Sydney nursing home on 20 April, aged 87, after suffering dementia for several years.

Keating shared some of the more lighthearted sides of Wran's personality, saying he had a "PhD in poetic profanity".

"He was a champion of swearing," he said.

"He wasn't just even an ordinary swearer – he was a champion."

Wran had a "zest for politics", Keating said.

"His brain was forever crackling with ideas. This allowed him to bound over the time-serving drudgery that bothered most people in public life."

Senior Labor figures including the former prime minister Bob Hawke, federal opposition leader Bill Shorten and former NSW premier Bob Carr were at the funeral, as were Liberal heavyweights including the NSW premier, Mike Baird, former premier Barry O'Farrell and the former federal Liberal minister Philip Ruddock.