The explanation that Kennett was at a memorial lecture in honour of Menzies could have waited for the second par which would have reduced the lead to about 27 words. But, the style of The Australian is to use longer intros. By contrast, here's an intro from the UK Mail late last year. Prince William has finally met his father's mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. Just 11 words.
More detail follows in the subsequent pars.
Where and when the meeting took place. Queensland's population is expected to reach 6.5 million by the year 2051. In general there are eight types of intros. Direct, attribution, summary - most common, decision, delayed, question, quotation, direct address. The Courier-Mail .