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Barry Humphries to be honoured with joint state funeral, PM Anthony Albanese reveals

Barry Humphries had a successful career in the entertainment industry stretching back more than 60 years. (AAP/VBPR)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed late satirist Barry Humphries will be honoured with a joint state funeral involving Victoria, New South Wales and the Commonwealth.

Barry Humphries died last month in Sydney at the age of 89 after complications from hip surgery.

His death prompted tributes from around the world for the Melbourne-born entertainer, whose comic creations such as Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson were revered by many.

In an interview with UK television channel Talk TV, Mr Albanese said plans were being made to jointly host a state funeral for the stage and screen star.

"There will be a state funeral for Barry Humphries as well, co-hosted by the New South Wales and the Victorian government, and the Australian government, my government will be a part of that," he said. 

"He's someone who gave an enormous amount of pleasure to generations of Australians and I know that a range of people who are friends of mine knew him very well.

"I know how warmly he was regarded by people in Australia and the UK."

Details for the funeral arrangements have not been officially announced and Mr Albanese did not expand on his statement other than to say Humphries was deeply missed and a "quintessential Australian character".

"Barry Humphries could only have come from Australia. What Barry Humphries would say as taking the piss out of ourselves and he did it so well and for such a long period of time, so it was a big loss," he said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters after Mr Albanese's interview that he "wasn't aware there was a three-government thing".

"I can't confirm for you where the service will be, or where the funeral will be. As far as I know, that's not settled and we're still talking to the family," he said.

Speaking with Talk TV presenter Piers Morgan, Mr Albanese addressed so-called cancel culture in response to a question about the Melbourne International Comedy Festival renaming what used to be the Barry Award.

The decision to rename the award was made after Humphries made comments about transgender people which were deemed "not helpful" by festival organisers.

"People can legitimately put forward their concerns about someone's comments that were made then but, at the same time, I think that we've got to be able to laugh at ourselves," Mr Albanese said.

"The idea of cancel culture is in my view a sad development because you often can get as well pile-ons on social media and you see it happen so often and things too taken out of context."

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