Graham Richardson, former Labor senator for NSW, has died aged 76. Photo / Getty Images
Former Labor senator, powerbroker and political commentator Graham “Richo” Richardson has died aged 76.
Richardson served as a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments and was a Labor senator for NSW for the duration of his parliamentary career.
He was seen as a central figure in the Labor Party’s leadership coup in 1991 that resulted in Bob Hawke being replaced by then-Treasurer Paul Keating.
Richardson later became a political commentator and a regular contributor to Sky News Australia.
He died early on Saturday after years of health issues.
But he had vowed to hang on till his son D’Arcy had completed his HSC exams – which he did on Thursday.
“When he had his big health challenge, he said to his wife Amanda, ‘I’m going to live till I see Darcy finish exams and his HSC’,” 2GB host Ben Fordham told the station on Saturday.
“Darcy did his last HSC exam on Thursday, which was his French exam. And Richo died this morning.”
Fordham said Richardson had suffered bouts of influenza and pneumonia and had been undergoing dialysis.
He is survived by his wife Amanda and his son D’Arcy. He had a son and daughter from his first marriage.
“I’ve lost the love of my life. D’Arcy’s lost the greatest dad and Australia’s lost one of its best. He was a man ahead of his time,” Amanda said in a statement.
Anthony Albanese described Richardson as a “Labor legend”.
“He was someone who was very passionate about the cause of Labor,” the Prime Minister told Sky News on Saturday.
“He was a true believer, someone who was very much loved within the Labor Party.
“He was an ultimate machine man, but also someone who had a real policy impact … the Daintree remains intact today because of Graham Richardson.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) former Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg said Richardson’s brave battle with cancer had come to an end.
“I enjoyed his company and his insights, and extend my condolences to Amanda, Darcy, and the family,” the former Kooyong MP wrote. Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie said Richardson was “gracious and wise with his unique encyclopaedic knowledge of Labor lore and history”.
“He encouraged me throughout my career and loved our country. His determination to continue public debate despite his illness was extraordinary. My condolences to his family,” she wrote on the site.
Goldstein Liberal MP Tim Wilson recounted his own story of losing a wager on a debate Richardson was participating in back in 2021.
He said the Labor powerbroker asked to “convert it to a lunch” when he was next in Sydney.
“He was always encouraging with his honesty,” Mr Wilson wrote on X.
“He’d regular SMS (me) with feedback and sent a lovely message when I lost, and when I won again.
“He SMSd only Tuesday with very kind words, and I reminded him again we needed to do lunch. My shout. Sadly not to be honoured in this life.
“All love to Amanda and his family.”
Sky News chief executive Paul Whittaker also paid tribute.
“During his almost 15 years delivering his frank yet charismatic commentary on political affairs on Sky News, Richo added an insight, expertise, and depth that enhanced political discourse in Australia,” Whittaker said in a statement.
“His uncompromising style and enviable ability to call the election result, often before anyone else, cemented him as a key fixture of Sky News’ election night coverage, while his contributions across the network helped shape Sky News into the leading destination for live political news coverage it is today.
“Richo was an inspiring and loyal member of the Sky News team whose presence in the newsroom, and on our screens, will be greatly missed.
Fordham phoned into the station on Saturday with the news.
“This has come as a huge shock to me,” Fordham said on the program.
“I’m a great mate of Richo. We were regular lunch companions.”
“We’ve been great mates for many years now.”
The outspoken political powerbroker had battled ill health for years – dating back to a cancer diagnosis in the 1990s.
Richardson was a central – and at times controversial – figure in NSW Labor politics for decades.
In his earlier years, he was widely recognised as a “numbers man” as the leader of the NSW Labor Right faction, of the NSW right faction. In 1983, became the youngest elected senator at the time.
Former Governor-General and one-time federal Labor leader Bill Hayden dubbed Richardson the “minister for kneecaps” because of his feared reputation as a powerbroker and room enforcer.
He held several portfolios in the Hawke and Keating governments and has been credited for securing increased protections for native forests in Tasmania, in addition to the heritage listing of Queensland’s Daintree Rainforest and the Northern Territory’s Kakadu National Park while Environment Minister.
Richardson was awarded an Order of Australia honour in 2020 for his service to Parliament, his subsequent career as a political commentator, as well as his philanthropic support of the Fred Hollows Foundation and the Asthma Foundation.
His career was not without controversy, with Richardson being accused of tax evasion because of his links with Sydney stockbroker Rene Rivkin.
The business was destroyed by fire in 1993.
In 2003 the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced it was examining whether Richardson, Rivkin and businessman Trevor Kennedy owned an undisclosed 38% interest in the Sydney business.
Richardson denied any involvement and the watchdog’s investigation was later dropped after Rivkin died in 2005.
Richardson was also caught up in the cash for comment scandal in the early 2000s.
After Hawke was re-elected in 1990, Richardson was offered the position of High Commissioner to the UK – widely seen as an effort to push him out of politics altogether.
He would go on to support Keating to replace Hawke in the later leadership ballot and received his preferred portfolio of Transport and Communications.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison was among the country’s political figures to pay tribute to the Labor powerbroker.
“Jen and I extend our deepest and sincere sympathies to Amanda and Darcy Richardson following the passing of their husband and father Graham and to Graham’s broader family,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I first properly met Richo on a seven news set at the old national tally centre in Canberra where we shared a panel on 2010 election night. We struck up an unlikely friendship that continued ever since.
“Richo was a good friend. He was loyal, tribal, insightful and truly one of a kind. He showed extraordinary courage during his long running illness and was cared for selflessly by his loving wife Amanda, who has been a saint to him, along with Darcy, as they shared these years together. He was very grateful for his second chance.”
The St George Illawarra Dragons – of which Richardson was a lifelong club member and supporter – on Saturday said they were deeply saddened by his passing.
Richardson spent much of his schooling years at Marist College Kogarah and was on hand for the St George District’s Centenary celebrations, having “spent his life advocating for and supporting the Red V”.
The team’s chief executive Tim Watsford said: “Graham was a true Dragon. He was passionate, hardworking and one of us. Graham will be missed immensely and, on behalf of the Red V, we send our heartfelt condolences to wife Amanda, children Darcy and Mathew, and all that were close to Graham.”
Sky News chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert said Richardson had been a great political commentator and friend.
“We should remember the career that he had, from the Labor Party machine into the Senate,” Gilbert said.
“He served was elected on three occasions. He served across various portfolios, from the environment to transport to health,”
“But his legacy is much broader than that. He’s been one of the great political commentators for so long, a key part of our election nights.
“It’s is a sad day for all of us at Sky News, a sad day for Labor.”
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