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The family of Judith Durham will be given time to grieve her death in private before the Victorian government approaches them about a possible state funeral.
The Seekers' singer died in palliative care on Friday night aged 79 after complications from a long-standing lung disease.
Victorian Minister Lily D'Ambrosio on Sunday offered her condolences to the family but said the government would not be drawn on a state funeral at this time.
"Judith Durham was a very, very private citizen and her family are very, very private too," Ms D'Ambrosio told reporters.
"Today is about remembering her and honouring her memory. She was an absolute treasure.
"Those other considerations are a matter for the coming days."
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy described Durham as an Australian icon and said she should be offered a state funeral.
"If there's one person who is certainly deserving of it, it would be Judith Durham," Mr Guy told reporters on Sunday.
"She was just a wonderful person who left such a legacy in this country."
Durham made her first recording at 19, and achieved worldwide fame after joining The Seekers in 1963.
The group of four became the first Australian band to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and United States, eventually selling 50 million records.
Durham embarked on a solo career in 1968, recording with The Seekers again in the 1990s.
Her bandmates - Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and Athol Guy - said their lives had been changed forever by losing "our treasured lifelong friend and shining star".
"Her struggle was intense and heroic, never complaining of her destiny and fully accepting its conclusion. Her magnificent musical legacy Keith, Bruce and I are so blessed to share," they said in a statement on Saturday.
Durham's sister Beverley Sheehan spoke of the siblings' shared love of music.
"Judith's joy for life, her constant optimism, creativity and generosity of spirit were always an inspiration to me," Ms Sheehan said.
Durham's death in palliative care after a brief stay in Melbourne's Alfred Hospital was a result of complications from a long-standing chronic lung disease, Universal Music Australia and Musicoast said in a statement on Saturday.
"This is a sad day for Judith's family, her fellow Seekers, the staff of Musicoast, the music industry and fans worldwide, and all of us who have been part of Judith's life for so long," The Seekers management team member Graham Simpson said.
Tributes flowed for the beloved singer, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailing Durham as "a national treasure and an Australian icon".
"Judith Durham gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists," Mr Albanese said on Twitter.
"Her kindness will be missed by many, the anthems she gave to our nation will never be forgotten."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton paid tribute to Durham as someone who "gave voice to more than one generation of Australians through words of universal appeal, carried by melodies that, once heard, became fixed in our memories".
Australia's entertainment industry also responded to the sad news, with singer Anthony Callea posting: "the skies above just gained a voice of an angel".
Actor Magda Szubanski sent her "deepest condolences".
"Her beautiful, crystalline voice was the naive but knowing siren song of my childhood," Ms Szubanski tweeted.
© AAP 2022
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The family of singer Judith Durham have accepted an offer from the Victorian government for a state funeral to honour her life.
The Seekers' singer died in palliative care on Friday night aged 79 after complications arising from a long-standing lung disease.
"I've spoken with Judith Durham's family today and I'm pleased they have accepted the offer of a State Funeral to honour the life and contribution of a true icon of Australian music," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday evening.
A date for the state funeral will be set soon.
Durham made her first recording at 19, and achieved worldwide fame after joining The Seekers in 1963.
The group of four became the first Australian band to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and United States, eventually selling 50 million records.
Durham embarked on a solo career in 1968, recording with The Seekers again in the 1990s.
Her bandmates - Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and Athol Guy - said their lives had been changed forever by losing "our treasured lifelong friend and shining star".
"Her struggle was intense and heroic, never complaining of her destiny and fully accepting its conclusion. Her magnificent musical legacy Keith, Bruce and I are so blessed to share," they said in a statement on Saturday.
Durham's sister Beverley Sheehan spoke of the siblings' shared love of music.
"Judith's joy for life, her constant optimism, creativity and generosity of spirit were always an inspiration to me," Ms Sheehan said.
Durham's death in palliative care after a brief stay in Melbourne's Alfred Hospital was a result of complications from chronic lung disease, Universal Music Australia and Musicoast said on Saturday.
"This is a sad day for Judith's family, her fellow Seekers, the staff of Musicoast, the music industry and fans worldwide, and all of us who have been part of Judith's life for so long," her biographer Graham Simpson said.
Tributes have flowed for the beloved singer, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailing Durham as "a national treasure and an Australian icon".
"Judith Durham gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists," Mr Albanese said on Twitter.
"Her kindness will be missed by many, the anthems she gave to our nation will never be forgotten."
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton paid tribute to Durham as someone who "gave voice to more than one generation of Australians through words of universal appeal, carried by melodies that, once heard, became fixed in our memories".
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy described Durham as an Australian icon.
"If there's one person who is certainly deserving of it, it would be Judith Durham," Mr Guy said on Sunday.
"She was just a wonderful person who left such a legacy in this country."
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Tariq Sims may have played his last game for St George Illawarra after being hit hard by the NRL's match review committee for a high tackle that floored Cronulla's Connor Tracey.
Sims was on Sunday hit with a grade-three high tackle charge over the first-half shot, which led to the NSW State of Origin discard being sin-binned in the Dragons' 24-18 loss on Saturday night.
Bound for Melbourne next season, Sims now faces a four-match ban even with an early guilty plea.
If he elects to fight it at the judiciary and loses, that suspension would go out to five weeks and take into account the first week of the finals if the 11th-placed Dragons qualified.
The charge comes after Sims made forceful contact with Tracey's head for his third judicial offence of the season.
Tracey appeared to lose consciousness before he hit the ground and needed to be stretchered from the field; Sims followed shortly afterwards for a stint in the sin-bin.
Dragons captain Ben Hunt said on Saturday night it would be a shame for Sims' 123-game career at the Dragons to end with a suspension.
"I've played a lot of footy with Tariq. I really respect Tariq, he's a good mate," he said.
"If that was his final game for the Dragons, it would be very disappointing."
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said he was unsure whether the Dragons forward should have been sent off rather than sin-binned.
Tracey was up and about in the dressing rooms after the hit but could also be looking at some time out of the game.
Lachie Miller, Mawene Hiroti and Matt Ikuvalu are three possible replacements on the wing for the Sharks, who have already lost first-choice winger Sione Katoa to a season-ending shoulder injury.
"We've got some players who can fit right in there if need be. It's a next-man-up kind of mentality," Sharks playmaker Braydon Trindall told AAP.
Sharks captain Wade Graham said teammates and opponents alike were feeling for Tracey.
"It's never nice in those situations, for either team. No player goes out there to hurt another player like that," he said.
"It didn't look great at the time on the field and both teams knew that.
"It was good to see him after the game in good spirits."
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Coach Dave Rennie has hailed the courage and character of the Wallabies, who overcame a serious injury to Quade Cooper to post a rousing Rugby Championship win over Argentina that they dedicated to absent skipper Michael Hooper.
The Wallabies trailed by nine points at half-time in the Mendoza match and then lost playmaker Cooper to a ruptured Achilles tendon, an injury which could rule him out of next year's Rugby World Cup even end the 34-year-old's career.
But they piled on 31 points after the break, with centre Len Ikitau crossing for the Wallabies' fifth try five minutes after full-time, to snare a bonus point 41-26 victory.
The Australians entered the Test without talismanic captain Hooper, who withdrew from the two-game tour the day before the match for mental health reasons and flew home.
Rennie said the team produced a stirring performance that showed respect for 121-Test veteran Hooper.
As well as the halftime deficit they turned around a costly 10-3 penalty count.
"It highlights the respect we have for Hoops (Hooper), we talked a lot about him over the last 24 hours - how do you honour a man who's emptied the tank in every Test over the past decade - it's by putting in a performance like that in the second half," Rennie said.
"We talked a lot about the courage that he's shown and we needed to show the same sort of courage on the field today."
Stand-in skipper James Slipper said it was one of most "satisfying" Tests of his 118-game national career given the setbacks before and during the match.
"The way we fought back into the game and wrestled it back into our hands, it was a proud moment to be a part of," the veteran prop said.
The performance of Hooper's flanker replacement Fraser McReight, who scored his first Test try, as well as Reece Hodge, who replaced Cooper and nailed three conversions and a penalty showed the growing depth and belief in the squad.
"Losing Quade early in the second half highlights the character of this group, when you've got a guy like Reece Hodge who can step up and play anywhere and I reckon the guys around him stepped up as well," Rennie said.
"We know they're a three-six-nine (penalty) side and can hurt you that way.
"The pleasing thing was we were more clinical in the second half and played the game in the right end of the field, built pressure.
"It was a hell of a second half."
Just after Cooper's exit McReight was dragged across the line for his first Test try by barn-storming Test debutant Jed Holloway.
A penalty try in the 62nd minute awarded by whistle-happy Scottish referee Mike Adamson then put the visitors within two points of Argentina.
With Argentine lock Matias Alemanno yellow-carded, Hodge banged over a long-range penalty for the Wallabies to take the lead, 27-26, for the first time in the match.
They extended that in the 70th minute when hooker Folau Fainga'a, in his best performance in the gold jersey, picked up the ball off the back of a maul and charged over.
Argentina, coached by former Wallabies mentor Michael Cheika, got off to their best possible start with Pablo Matera crossing in the sixth minute and got out to a 13-3 lead.
The Wallabies countered through winger Jordan Petaia but kept the home side in the game through their sharp-shooter Emiliano Boffelli.
The Australians got on the right side of Adamson in the second half, while the Pumas own discipline fell apart as they incurred 11 second-half penalties which cruelled their cause.
The Wallabies face Argentina again next weekend in San Juan.
© AAP 2022
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