turbulent year for the government. Lewis was ousted in a party room coup by Willis in 1976, but Willis only lasted four months before losing the 1976 election to Labor, ending the longest unbroken run for a non-Labor government since World War I. Later life Askin's health declined still further after 1975, and he died of heart failure on 9 September 1981 in St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney. The next day, the Sydney Morning Herald editorialised that he was "one of the ablest, most industrious and colourful political leaders of Australia's post-war era". His state funeral, held on 14 September, was attended by over 1,000 mourners including Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, Premier Neville Wran, Mervyn Wood, Justice Lionel Murphy and former NSW Labor Premier and former Governor-General Sir William McKell. Allegations of corruption There have been persistent allegations that Askin, allegedly assisted by then Police Commissioner Norman Allan, oversaw the creation of a lucrative network of corruption and bribery that involved politicians, public servants and police and the nascent Sydney organised crime syndicates. When questioned about his wealth, Askin always attributed it to the salary from his high public office, his frugal lifestyle, good investments and canny punting. After his death the Australian Taxation Office audited his estate, and although it made no finding of criminality, it determined that a substantial part of it came from undisclosed income derived from sources other than shares or gambling. With Askin's death in 1981, investigative journalists were freed from the threat of legal action under Australia's defamation laws. Stories about his reputed corruption were published almost immediately. Most notable of these was an article that appeared in The National Times co-written by David Marr and David Hickie. Headlined "Askin: friend of organised crime", it was published on the day of Askin's funeral. This was followed by David Hickie's book "The Prince and The Premier", which detailed Askin's long involvement in illegal bookmaking and allegations that he had received substantial and long-running payoffs from organised crime figures. In 2007, the centenary of Askin's birth went largely unnoticed with the Liberal Party distancing itself from him. The allegations of corruption against Askin were revived in 2008 when Alan Saffron, the son of the late Sydney crime boss Abe Saffron, published a biography of his father in which he alleged that Saffron had paid bribes to major public officials including Askin, former police commissioner Norman Allan, and