Media character Eddie McGuire has lashed out at experiences Shane Warne’s MCG state funeral price taxpayers $1.6m.
The report sparked debate after a Freedom of Information request by The Age revealed the Victorian authorities had paid $2.8m in whole for state funerals final yr.
But Warne’s was by far the largest and priced at $1.6m because the much-loved cricket star was a worldwide celebrity and noticed the MCG packed out for the general public to farewell the star.
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Warne died after struggling a coronary heart assault aged 52 in Thailand final March and was farewelled in a shifting public memorial on the MCG final March that was a becoming celebration of his life.
The reveal additionally had a line merchandise that McGuire’s manufacturing firm JAM TV was paid $1m for the occasion.
Speaking on 3AW, McGuire blasted the insinuation that he was making a living off one in all his nice mates’ loss of life.
McGuire mentioned he would have “appreciated to give some quotes to The Age last night but they couldn’t find me”, regardless of having spoken to a reporter for ”about an hour” all through the day.
McGuire mentioned he wasn’t paid 1,000,000 {dollars}, however slightly allotted a $1m price range to provide the memorial for a global viewers.
He added that $600k went into staging, together with the disclosing of the Shane Warne stand.
“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 mentioned.
“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.”
McGuire mentioned the report had “genuinely hurt” the Warne household who “gave their sons funeral to Melbourne and the world”.
He mentioned he was emotional and enthusiastic about correcting the narrative, the general public memorial was a labour of affection achieved for the suitable causes.
“We put our heart and soul into this because we loved Shane and we loved this city,” McGuire mentioned.
“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 additionally the MC of the occasion and mentioned it was even run at a loss.
Sunrise leisure reporter Peter Ford revealed on 6PR that McGuire had crammed within the loss out of his personal pocket.
“When I heard that amount I wasn’t the least bit surprised,” Ford mentioned 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.
“Those sort of people (security guards, caterers) did get paid but Eddie didn’t get a cent out of it.”
Originally printed as ‘As if’: Eddie McGuire blasts report of $1m cost from Shane Warne’s MCG funeral
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
