‘Man of great integrity’ Brian Harradine farewelled

FATHER of the Senate Brian Harradine was yesterday remembered as a man of honour, faith and tenacity at his state funeral.

FATHER of the Senate Brian Harradine was yesterday remembered as a man of honour, faith and tenacity as he was farewelled at a state funeral service in Hobart.

The former independent senator of 30 years, who died on April 14, aged 79, after a long illness, was praised by former prime minister John Howard as a hard negotiator who kept his word. “He was a man of great integrity,” Mr Howard said after the service at St Mary’s Cathedral. “He was at heart a Labor man; he didn’t leave the Labor Party — the Labor Party left him.

“He agreed with me on some things and supported my government in a very effective way, but on other things we couldn’t reach agreement, which is understandable because they were not things in his heart. But what I liked and respected in him always was his great integrity, and reliability and honesty.”

Mr Harradine was expelled from the ALP in 1975 for alleging there were “friends of communists” within the party. He stood for the Senate as an independent and served in the chamber until his retirement in 2004, holding the balance of power in the 1990s.

His family yesterday remembered the former union leader as “fearless, determined (and) formidable” but also as a “humble” gentleman devoted to his family, friends, community and God. “Dad always knew the limits of the public life,” said son Bede, one of Mr Harradine’s 13 children. “He himself once spoke whimsically of being a rooster one day and ending up a feather duster the next.

“Many tried to stereotype and pigeonhole my father. Yet ... his vision (was) far broader than they could fathom.”

Archbishop Julian Porteous said Mr Harradine was motivated by his Catholic faith.

Mr Harradine is survived by his children, his second wife, Marian, and an extended family.

Additional reporting: AAP