Australian country star is mourned

Mourners in cowboy hats mingled today with Australia’s prime minister and music stars at the state funeral of Slim Dusty, a country singer hailed as one of the nation’s greatest storytellers and a promoter of reconciliation between Aborigines and other Australians.

Peter Garrett, lead singer of rock group Midnight Oil described Dusty’s ballads as “a conversation in an Australian accent free of prejudice and vanity. These, the best parts of our character, were found in Slim Dusty, singer songwriter”.