‘We can hope the world sees her like again’

Australian leaders have paid tribute to the Queen, who died on Thursday afternoon local time in Scotland.

Anthony Albanese remembered the late Queen as a monarch who performed her duty with “fidelity, integrity and humour”.

“There is comfort to be found in Her Majesty’s own words: ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’,” Mr Albanese said in a statement.

The Queen died aged 96 peacefully at her home in Scotland, Buckingham Palace announced.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the Queen embodied the “keep calm and carry on mantra”.

“As leaders you have to deal with events as they arise and many are not predictable, and it’s in that moment, that split second decision the response and you have to deal with that,” he told Nine.

“She’s dealt with everything that’s come her way. And it’s just with such great ease.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who will step into the top role when Mr Albanese heads to London for the funeral and to meet with King Charles, said he was “shocked” by the news.

NED-5474-Long to reign over us-Queen Elizabeth

“For most of the population, we’ve only ever known the Elizabethan Age. There is a real sense that this is a very significant moment,” he told Nine.

“I felt shocked this morning as well. I woke to a text message from the Prime Minister alerting me of the news, but there is just an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the life that she‘s led, what she’s meant to so many people and the service she has given.

“It is hard to think of another human being who has so completely devoted themselves to others, to her country, to the commonwealth as the Queen.”

Former Coalition prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott also paid their respects early on Friday.

“Her long life of service inspired the whole world and was a calm and gracious presence through seven decades of turbulence and change,” Mr Turnbull wrote on Twitter.

“We have lost an exemplar of duty, honour and faithfulness but deep thanks for her life should mingle with numbness and sadness at this loss,” Mr Abbott said in a statement.

“Nine-tenths of the world’s people have known no other Queen. We can but hope the world might see her like again but none of us ever will.”

Kevin Rudd, who served twice as prime minister, said he was in a “state of disbelief”.

“I think, most Australians and most Brits, I assumed somehow in my deepest recesses of my mind that the Queen would last forever,” he told Nine.

“That is when I heard the news she’d been sick, ‘Oh, well, she always bounces back’. She got through the war, she got through the Blitz, Buckingham Palace was bombed. She survived all that. She will be fine.

“I think the mood, both for myself and (wife) Therese who is with me, but also those we have run into in the last several hours, is still one of disbelief.”

Scott Morrison remembered the late Queen as a “rock” and recalled their last conversation at Windsor Castle last year.

“Her Majesty spoke of her great admiration for the strength and resilience of Australians in the face of the many challenges we had faced,” he said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Queen would be “greatly missed”.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also offered his “deep condolences” to the royal family.

“Her presence spanned countries, cultures, languages, and continents – her reign transcended decades and generations. And like no monarch before her, she captured our hearts and our affection” he said.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said Her Majesty was an “inspiration”.