Australia news live: auction clearances nudge up after weeks under 50%; state farewell for Richard Scolyer

Richard Scolyer , the 2024 Australian of the year, will be honoured with a state memorial service on Monday, after his death from brain cancer on 7 June. He was 59. AAP reports dignitaries including the prime minister, Anthony Albanese , NSW premier, Chris Minns, and governor general, Sam Mostyn, will attend the service at the Sydney Opera House. Scolyer will be remembered as the pathologist who turned melanoma from being a common death sentence into a largely curable disease, through treatment that activated a patient’s immune system. The prime minister called Scolyer one of Australia’s brightest lights and biggest hearts in a tribute after his death: double quotation mark Every day, this remarkable man – the cancer specialist who became his own subject – took us into his confidence and he lifted us all in the process. View image in fullscreen Richard Scolyer. Photograph: James Gourley/The Guardian