Bill Grayden, WA's longest-serving parliamentarian, remembered at state funeral

WA's longest-serving parliamentarian, Bill Grayden, has been remembered for "a life filled with honour" at his state funeral, which was attended by hundreds of mourners in Perth on Tuesday.

The decorated World War II veteran was farewelled at a state funeral at St George's Cathedral attended by family, veterans and dignitaries.

WA Premier Roger Cook, former premier Richard Court and WA Governor Chris Dawson were among those present.

Mr Grayden died on April 28 aged 105.

"For a life lived with honour, determination, resilience and leadership, Captain William (Bill) Leonard Grayden AM personified what it meant to be of service," Mr Cook said in his eulogy.

"Throughout his extraordinary career, Bill Grayden's character shone through. That of both leader, and more importantly, that of a good and decent man.

"We owe him, and his generation — of which much was asked — an eternal debt of remembrance."

From battlefield to parliament

Born in Perth in 1930 to a father who had served at Gallipoli in WWI, Mr Grayden's commitment to serving the public began at the outbreak of WWII, when he lied about his age to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.

He spent time in Syria and the Middle East before being sent to Papua New Guinea's infamous Kokoda Trail.

Discharged from the army in 1946, Mr Grayden began his career in state politics the following year when he was elected to the seat of Middle Swan, and would later enter federal politics, serving under Robert Menzies.

He returned to state parliament in 1967 before retiring in 1993.

He spent 43 years in government in total and is recognised as WA's longest-serving parliamentarian.

'An uphill battle'

Former premier Richard Court paid tribute to Mr Grayden's work ethic, and said he faced an uphill battle in his first election.

"Bill entered parliament the hard way. He was running for marginal seats that were very hard to win, particularly in the 1940s and the early 1950s," he said.

Mr Grayden served alongside Mr Court during his second stint in WA politics.

In his first stint, he served alongside Mr Court's father Charles, who was likewise a World War II veteran.

Richard Court said Mr Grayden and his father Leonard Ives were united in their concern that communism was infiltrating Australian politics post-war.

Passion for Aboriginal welfare

Robert Grayden, one of Mr Grayden's 10 children, said his father's career-long passion for Aboriginal welfare would be the enduring legacy of his time in politics.

Mr Grayden visited the Aboriginal community of Warburton in 1953, while he was the state member for South Perth.

Robert Grayden said his father was "deeply moved" by the people he met there, which fuelled his opposition to British nuclear testing in the outback South Australian town of Maralinga.

"Dad's first book, Adam and Atoms, highlighted [the living conditions in remote communities], and exposed the inadequacy of prevailing welfare measures, and confronted certain media organisations' refusal to admit that an urgent humanitarian issue existed."

In 1956, Mr Grayden chaired a committee investigating the conditions of First Nations people and a film he shot was said to have been instrumental in the success of the 1967 Referendum on Aboriginal citizenship.

To his 10 children, 36 grandchildren and 50 great-grandchildren, he said Bill Grayden was the beloved patriarch of his family, and to his late wife Betsy, he was a devoted husband.

"He had, and will continue to have, and enormous impact on our lives. We count ourselves truly blessed to have had this amazing man for our father," Robert Grayden said.