Australian media personality Eddie McGuire has lashed out at reports Shane Warne’s MCG state funeral cost Aussie taxpayers AU$1.6m.
The report sparked debate after a Freedom of Information request by The Age revealed the Victorian government had paid AU$2.8m in total for state funerals last year.
But Warne’swas by far the biggest and priced at AU$1.6m as the much-loved cricket star was a worldwide superstar and saw the MCG packed out for the public to farewell the star.
Warne died after suffering a heart attack aged 52 in Thailand last March and was farewelled in a moving public memorial at the MCG last March that was a fitting celebration of his life.
The reveal also had a line item that McGuire’s production company JAM TV was paid $1m for the event.
Speaking on 3AW, McGuire blasted the insinuation that he was making money off one of his great mates’ death.
McGuire said he would have “appreciated to give some quotes to The Age last night but they couldn’t find me”, despite having spoken to a reporter for “about an hour” throughout the day.
McGuire said he wasn’t paid a million dollars, but rather allocated a $1m budget to produce the memorial for an international audience.
He added that $600k went into staging, including the unveiling of the Shane Warne stand.
Shane Warne bowling during the Black Caps first innings at Eden park
27 March 2005. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
“Everything was done at absolute cost, including myself and the executives at JAM TV, and not only at cost with love and affection and a devotion to not only Warnie but to showcase our city in the best possible way,” McGuire said.
“In a lot of ways, we saw this as Victoria’s funeral. I had to bury my mother with 10 people in the room at the funeral.
“I was delighted we were able to showcase Melbourne. We didn’t need to have the drones go up the Yarra to show beautiful Melbourne at sunset. We didn’t need to have the didgeridoo player on top of the stand to open it and Welcome to Country and pay tribute to our Indigenous people. We didn’t need to have Greta Bradman come out and sing the national anthem. I could have sung it.
“But we did because it went around the world. I had executive producers from Hollywood ring me the next day, who I’d never heard of, who said ‘we saw this, this was incredible’.
“At the same time, we were trying to promote to the subcontinent that Melbourne was open and a safe place to be again. We got 95,000 for India Vs Pakistan (at the T20 cricket World Cup at the MCG). We were trying to reinvigorate Indian and subcontinent students coming back to us, which is still in play.
“These are the points which some bloke who writes the story could have got this and wrote a proper story and you’ve got an opportunity to tell the people of Melbourne what this did and the economic impact of Shane Warne’s funeral at $1.6m has brought to this city.”
Anthony Callea performs on stage during the state memorial service for former Australian cricketer Shane Warne. Photo / Getty
McGuire said the report had “genuinely hurt” the Warne family who “gave their sons funeral to Melbourne and the world”.
He said he was emotional and passionate about correcting the narrative, the public memorial was a labour of love done for the right reasons.
“We put our heart and soul into this because we loved Shane and we loved this city,” McGuire said.
“And I get sick of people narking up all the time.
“People put their life on hold to do this free of charge.
“And to have a smart alec line item in there that points at me as if I’ve put a million dollars in my pocket – please … as if.
“This should never have been under a state memorial. I should have been under a state event where $1.6m got you one billion people watching around the world to say Melbourne was open and his is how Melbourne looks after its heroes. So I have no problem whatsoever telling you every line item because no one made a quid, except for the workers who got paid for a fair day’s work.”
McGuire was also the MC of the event and said it was even run at a loss.
Sunrise entertainment reporter Peter Ford revealed on 6PR that McGuire had filled in the loss out of his own pocket.
“When I heard that amount I wasn’t the least bit surprised,” Ford said on 6PR radio station.
“Because it was such a huge event, a global TV event … (and) it’s got to be done properly. It can’t be amateur time.
“(But the article) makes it look like he trousered a million bucks.
“In fact, not only did Eddie make nothing out of it, but … it went over budget and he topped it up himself.
“So he put his hand in his own pocket. He doesn’t want to make a big deal about it because it’s out there, but I think he feels the need to defend himself.
“He’s talking about security guards and ushers, etc, who of course had not worked. It’s easy to forget. Melbourne was locked down for the best part of two years (the funeral was in March, 2022). There weren’t any events.
