Former senator Graham Richardson has died, at 76, as he lived: inspiring endless euphemisms. The weekend’s headlines marked the passing of the “hard nosed” “powerbroker”, the “king maker”, “Senator for Kneecaps” who would do “Whatever It Takes”. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Richardson’s life as “often colourful, and sometimes controversial”.
His influence, doubtless, is huge — as the “numbers man” he helped give Australia two prime ministers, organising Bob Hawke’s displacement of Bill Hayden and subjecting Hawke to the same treatment in favour of Paul Keating just under a decade later.