Shane Warne state funeral cost up to $1.6m, according to new documents

The Andrews government has defended spending $1.6m on a state funeral for cricket legend Shane Warne, saying the fanfare for the iconic, beloved Victorian was “deserved”.

The Andrews government has defended the $1.6m price tag to host cricket great Shane Warne’s MCG state funeral.

Major Events, Sport and Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos said state memorial services were an important way to commemorate the life of “iconic figures”.

“There’s no right or wrong about this. What is right is celebrating the life of outstanding Victorians who have gone,” Mr Dimopoulos said.

“I think the better question to ask is how we provide the Victorian community with the best opportunity to honour and celebrate the life of people they’ve loved.

“These are iconic figures. Whether it’s Shane Warne or Archie Roach. All Victorians have the opportunity to celebrate their lives with dignity and some fanfare because it’s deserved.”

The MCG send off for cricket legend Shane Warne cost up to $1.6 million – making it one of the most expensive state funerals of all time. Credit: Hamish Blair/Getty Images

The tribute, held in March last year after Warne’s shock death in Thailand, cost Victorian taxpayers $1.6m, making it one of the most expensive state funerals of all time.

Up to 50,000 spectators turned up to farewell the spin king, while as many as a billion viewers tuned in from across the world.

Newly released documents revealed the event, which featured tribute songs performed by Warne’s famous friends, including Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, contributed to an overall $2.8m spent on state funerals for the year.

Melbournes MCG is packed with over 50 000 mourners for the Shane Warne Funeral. Picture: Jason Edwards

Media personality Eddie McGuire, whose company JAM TV was allocated $1m by the government to stage and produce the event, became emotional as he defended the final price tag.

Mr McGuire said holding events at the MCG was always a costly feat, and admitted there were initial discussions about charging attendees a small entry fee.

“This was done absolutely through love,” he told 3AW.

“In a lot of ways, we saw this as being Victoria’s funeral.

“I had to bury my mother with 10 people in the room at the funeral, and I got great succour out of the fact that we all came together for a collective funeral in the name of our great mate Shane Warne.

“I’m happy for people to pick over this, but I’m also delighted that we were able to showcase Melbourne.

“It went around the world. I had executive producers from Hollywood ringing me the next day who I had never heard of who said ‘We saw this, this was incredible’.

“We could have done it out of the Mentone Grammar gym ... We did this on the smell of an oily rag.

“We put our heart and soul into this because we loved Shane and we love this city, and I get sick of people narking up all the time.”

Mr McGuire also took aim at The Age newspaper, who reported the funding breakdown, and accused them of failing to offer a right of reply.

“To have a smart alec line item in there that pointed at me as if I’ve put a million dollars in my pocket — please. As if,” he said.

Other Victorian state memorials included the remeberance of the four police officers killed in a horrific crash on the Eastern Freeway and the funeral of former MP Jane Garrett.

Budgets of state funerals are determined based on the venue, level of public interest and in close conusltation with the families.

“State memorials and funerals honour individuals’ outstanding service to Victoria – they afford Victorians an opportunity to mourn, celebrate and to recognise extraordinary contributions to our great state,” a Victorian Government spokesman said.