Neil Balnaves dies in Tahiti boating accident

Australian entertainment giant Neil Balnaves — whose companies brought Blue Heelers and Big Brother to TV screens — has died in Tahiti.

Australian entertainment giant and philanthropist Neil Balnaves — whose companies brought Blue Heelers, Big Brother and Bananas in Pyjamas to TV screens — has died in a boat accident in Tahiti.

Tragically, it was a near-fatal boat accident in 2002 that changed his life and led to him giving away a $40 million fortune after he famously said: “How many more houses do I need? Do I want the jet plane? Do I want another yacht?

“Not really. There comes a time when those things stop meaning so much.”

It is understood the Mosman millionaire and family man was holidaying on board the Oneworld mega-motor yacht off the Polynesian island. He and other members of his group were on a tender when it flipped in choppy waves and threw them in the water.

Mr Balnaves, 77, could not be revived.

Neil Balnaveswas the chairman of Ardent Leisure which owned Dreamworld in Queensland at the time of the accident which killed four people. Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian.

He formed the Balnaves Foundation in 2006 to help the arts, education and medicine with “an emphasis on indigenous Australia, young people and the disadvantaged with the aim to create a better Australia.”

The foundation, whose CEO is Neil’s son Hamish Balnaves, on Monday confirmed his death.

“The Balnaves family sends their heartfelt thank for people’s kind words and wishes and kindly requests privacy at this difficult time,” the foundation said in a statement.

Described as a swashbuckling TV executive, his life changed when a powerboat flew around a bend in the Coomera River on the Gold Coast and ploughed into his runabout.

He was left in life support for three weeks.

His hips were shattered, his pelvis was broken and bones in his legs were driven in to his abdomen by the force of the crash. It took years of rehabilitation and physiotherapy to get him back on his feet.

Former television executive Neil Balnaves with his son Hamish Balnaves. Picture: John Appleyard

The man who had left school in Adelaide at 15, made his fortune in media and became one of Sydney’s social stalwarts as a generous director of the Sydney Orthopaedic Research Institute and a member of the Chairman’s Circle at Sydney Theatre Company as well as serving on many advisory and community organisations.

He was a founding fellow and is a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He was a former managing director Hanna-Barbera Pty, Ltd. (Australia), an Australian division of the famous animated production company.

He went on to run Southern Star Television which became Endemol Shine Australia and produced shows including Water Rats, Joh’s Jury, Blue Murder and McLeod’s Daughters.

“It’s not easy giving away money,’ he once told the Mosman Daily.

“We don’t write cheques but are actively involved in choosing the projects we support and I worry about the money being well spent.”