While Malcolm Turnbull has been notable for the absence of an official comment on the passing of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the US has offered mixed messages from its incoming and outgoing presidents.

Mr Castro may have been a significant figure of the 20th century, but Mr Turnbull has so far declined to mark his passing.

The Prime Minister’s office declined to say why Mr Turnbull wasn’t making a formal statement, leaving it instead to frontbencher Mathias Cormann to deliver the official line – calling Mr Castro a “significant but controversial figure”.

“The policies and actions he pursued, in our judgment, weren’t in the best interests of the Cuban people,” Senator Cormann told ABC TV on Sunday.

“Certainly his hostility towards the West, in particular the United States, we believe imposed significant hardship on the Cuban people.”

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was less restrained, and unleashed a scathing attack on Mr Castro’s legacy, who died on Friday night Cuba time.

Mr Abbott described him as a brutal dictator who killed thousands of people and reduced his country to poverty, while being an enemy of both US and western values, as well as human decency.

“Frankly his legacy is a bad one … and not one that should be celebrated in any way,” Mr Abbott told Sky News.

The US response(s)

Outgoing US President Barack Obama released a statement saying the United States extended a “hand of friendship to the Cuban people” at news of Mr Castro’s death.

“We know that this moment fills Cubans – in Cuba and in the United States – with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation,” Mr Obama said.

“History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.

“For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements.

“During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbours and friends – bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity.

“This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.”

As his health deteriorated, Mr Castro and Cuba’s Communist Party installed his brother Raul to the party’s highest post in 2008, subsequently confirming that he would remain there.

With the death of Mr Castro, the gradual lifting of the Cold War trade embargo by the United States and the reopening of diplomatic ties, Cuba has great potential.

But with Raul Castro and the Cuban Communist Party still in power, supporting positive change will be an early diplomatic test for incoming president Trump.

Nine days of mourning has been declared in Cuba. Fidel Castro’s ashes will be interred at a cemetery in the eastern city of Santiago, near where he grew up, next weekend.

“Vale Fidel Castro”

Back in Australia, Labor Leader Bill Shorten was also quiet on the dictator’s death, but foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong offered her condolences to the friends and family of Mr Castro.

“The Labor opposition welcomes a warming of relations between Cuba and the US, and hopes that Cuba will continue opening up, and improving human rights and civil liberties for the Cuban people,” Senator Wong told AAP.

Senior Labor senator Kim Carr was less diplomatic in tweeting his thoughts.

Vale Fidel Castro, extraordinary 20th century figure, survived 50 year embargo & 638 CIA attempts on life using ex-lovers & Mafia gangsters

— Kim Carr (@SenKimCarr) November 26, 2016

– with AAP, ABC