Bells toll for one last 'Jull-orama'

HAD Christopher Pyne listened to his old friend David Jull, his path in politics might have been that much smoother.

David Julls Funeral

HAD Christopher Pyne listened to his old friend David Jull, his path in politics might have been that much smoother.

Of course, Jull being Jull -- larger-than-life and full of good cheer -- the advice was conveyed in the "God-given voice" that launched his career as a broadcaster and made him a character of federal parliament for three decades with the Liberal Party.

Pyne, giving the eulogy at Jull's state funeral in Brisbane, recounted how they had been discussing the merits or otherwise of "standing up" to the leader.

Jull burst into song -- the bit from Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore about how effort and polish can get a young man through the front door and on to greater things.

"It was sage advice," Pyne told the 900 mourners who packed St John's Anglican cathedral, "which, of course, I didn't take." He spent the next 10 years on the backbench.

Jull, who died on September 13 after a long struggle with cancer, was remembered as a complete man who just about did it all in his 66 years.

Pyne, the manager of opposition business in the House of Representatives, described Jull as a witty, well-read scholar and sportsman who was well-travelled, interested in food and wine, and "straight as a die" as a friend and colleague .

He admired "great men of deeds", including Winston Churchill. John Winston Howard was also important in Jull's life, Pyne said, and his 20 months as minister for administrative services from 1996 proved "all too brief".

Former tourism boss Frank Moore, who worked with Jull at the Queensland Tourism and Travel Corporation, said he contributed more to federal politics than "parliament gave him".

He was a "natural gentleman" who could count, among many distinctions, being the first person to appear on Brisbane's TVO, forerunner to the Ten Network.

Jull launched his public life on the Brisbane airwaves as a teenage radio announcer. He had spent his early years in Kingaroy, the son of a clergyman. John Crook, a colleague from those days, said Jull's voice might have been "God-given", but he became the "utmost professional" as a broadcaster and journalist.

Pyne said Jull's passions for tourism and aviation led MPs to turn to "Jull Air" for tips before travelling. Events organised by the burly Queenslander, who was popular on all sides of politics, became "Jull-oramas".

Yesterday's service opened to the strains of the national anthem, and concluded as the noon-day bells pealed.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson represented Julia Gillard. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop stood in for Tony Abbott.

Jull was MP for the Brisbane bayside seat of Bowman between 1975 and 1983, then was re-elected to parliament in outer metropolitan Fadden in 1984, representing it for the Liberals until 2007.