Editor-in-Chief Paul Whittaker announced the news to staff today, describing Leak as “a giant in his field of cartooning and portraiture and a towering figure for more than two decades” at the newspaper and said he was “simply irreplaceable”.

“We will miss him dreadfully and our hearts go out to his wife Goong, his stepdaughter Tasha and his sons Johannes and Jasper,” Whittaker said.

“I know that many people at The Australian will be inconsolable over this tragic loss of such a good man,” he said.

Leak died this morning in Gosford Hospital.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull paid tribute to his “brilliance” and their “good friendship” in a Facebook post.

Attorney-General George Brandis called Leak a “great champion of freedom of speech”.

“He did what great political cartoonists must do, shining a light on hard issues in a way that

was witty, penetrating, and brave. His humour was sharp but never cruel,” he said in a statement.

“We have lost a great Australian”. `

Leak won nine Walkley awards and 19 Stanley awards for his work, and was twice awarded News Corp’s cartoonist of the year.

Leak had his last public event on Wednesday night, launching his latest book.

Whittaker said at that event he “spoke with his trademark wit and wisdom to a room filled with friends, colleagues and fans, all of whom wished him well and expressed great appreciation of his strength and his unwavering commitment to free speech and true Australian values”.

Leak made headlines around the world last year for his satirical works, including one that depicted­ an indigenous father holding a can of beer and asking a policeman his own son’s name.

At this week’s book launch, Leak called political correctness “a poison that attacks the sense of humour” that “infects an awful lot of precious little snowflakes”.

Bleak view

His speech was gatecrashed by Barry Humphries’s character Sir Les Patterson, who said Leak was “Australia’s Rembrandt, our Warhol”.

Tributes flow for Leak