‘Exceptional dad, loving husband’: Prime Minister joins hundreds mourning beloved Labor strategist Tim Picton

Even the largest function room in Optus Stadium proved too small for the amount of people who loved Tim Picton, as they gathered for his funeral on Friday. Labor strategist Mr Picton was remembered as an “exceptional dad”, “loving husband”, “brilliantly smart” and someone who “made the world a better place”. Mr Picton, 36, was left unconscious after he was attacked outside a nightclub in Perth’s Northbridge on December 27. Tragically, he died on Monday surrounded by family. Brodie Jake Dewar, 20, has been charged with grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident, during which Mr Picton was allegedly knocked unconscious. The funeral was attended by a number of politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Western Australian Premier Roger Cook and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas. Mr Picton played a key role in WA Labor’s 2021 state election campaign, which returned a landslide victory, and later Mr Albanese’s 2022 “WA-centric” federal election campaign. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was unable to attend the funeral and sent her regrets amid the state’s bushfires. “It’s an election year and we reckon Tim would have wanted her on the tools,” said 7News presenter Charlotte Goodlet, who hosted the ceremony. Heartfelt tributes were made from his friends and family, accompanied by music, including Blackbird by The Beatles and Forever Young by Bob Dylan. “He was a man with a massive heart,” one friend said. “He was the best dad, a real girl dad … fatherhood felt so natural for him,” said another. Mr Picton’s wife, Priya Brown read from the heartbreaking poem Funeral Blues, by poet W.H. Auden, which featured in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral – a flick she said the pair would often watch together: “He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.” Mr Picton’s older sister Jo talked about a stuffed monkey named Peanut, which her brother was given as a baby. Peanut remained with Mr Picton his entire life, sitting on top of his coffin on Friday. She said Mr Picton gave Peanut to his daughter Charlotte, when she was born. “But when Tim was in hospital and not doing so well, at Charlotte’s request, Peanut was placed back with him to comfort him,” she said. “The comfort and empathy Tim gave to others is a beautiful trait that carries on in his gorgeous girl,” she said. Mr Picton’s brother Chris, said “I want to make sure that he lives on … Every time you see a great election campaign, I hope you think of Tim”. Then speaking to his young niece, Charlotte, he said, “we will make sure you feel safe in this world, and loved, and thriving. You’re dad was extraordinary and his love for you does not end”. “Losing Tim is a sinking feeling of knowing something priceless has slipped from my grasp, and I just can’t get it back,” his best friend Andrew Anson said. “There are no words to heal, but we can find solace in his Adelaide Crows and their motto, we fly as one,” he said. The Prime Minister, who travelled to Perth for the service, described Mr Picton as “brilliant” and the alleged circumstances of his death as “senseless”. Mr Albanese said he would deliver a letter to Mr Picton’s daughter, Charlotte. “I have a letter today that I’ll give to Priya, Tim’s wife, for Charlotte so that when she grows up she has what are some of my personal reflections on her dad – for Tim, Charlotte was the apple of his eye.” Premier Roger Cook on Tuesday said Charlotte would “now will be left wondering what happened to her father”. “Priya has lost her best friend, and, of course, Fiona and Michael has lost her son,” he said. “So on behalf of everyone, I just want to give my absolute condolences and deepest sympathies.” Each of Mr Picton’s friends and family who spoke at the funeral, concluded with a similar remark. “We love you Tim, we will desperately miss you, but always remember you,” Mr Anson said. “We promise you that we will always show up for Priya and Charlotte.”