Freak wave to blame for mogul’s death in Tahiti

As tributes flowed for former media mogul and philanthropist Neil Balnaves, who died this week in a boating accident in Tahiti, details of the incident started to emerge.

Neil Balnaves was a trailblazing TV executive who produced top-rating shows Big Brother and Blue Heelers through his Southern Star production house.

As tributes flowed for former media mogul and philanthropist Neil Balnaves, who died this week in a boating accident in Tahiti, details of the incident started to emerge.

The Australian understands Mr Balnaves and his wife, Diane, were holidaying on the exclusive residential yacht The World, on which they owned an apartment, when the accident occurred.

It is understood the couple had embarked on an excursion and were heading for a small island on a zodiac, or inflatable boat, when it was hit by a “freak wave”.

Mr Balnaves, 77, a trailblazing TV executive who produced top-rating shows Big Brother and Blue Heelers through his Southern Star production house, was killed.

Ms Balnaves was un­injured but deeply traumatised.

Her children, Hamish and Victoria, have flown to Tahiti to be by her side, but it is not yet known when the grief-stricken family will return to Australia.

Before the pandemic, Mr and Mrs Balnaves, according to a source, had often travelled on the luxury vessel, which they saw as “a home away from home” and a place that afforded them privacy.

The World markets itself as “the largest private residential ship on the planet … combining a private yacht and luxury vacation home’’.

In 2002, Mr Balnaves almost died in a boat collision on the Gold Coast that broke more than 40 of his bones. His long recovery from this trauma sparked his desire to give millions of dollars to the arts and medical and Indigenous research projects.

Since 2006, the Balnaves Foundation has given more than $40m to recipients including Sydney’s Ensemble and Belvoir St theatres, the Art Galleries of NSW and South Australia, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Sydney Dance Company, the Black Dog Institute and the University of NSW’s Indigenous Law Centre.

National Gallery of Australia director Nick Mitzevich noted the sad irony of Mr Balnaves’s first boat accident being “life-changing” and a second boat accident ending his life.

“What Neil demonstrated was that commitment was very important,’’ Mitzevich said.

Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron said Mr Balnaves was an “extraordinary man” who cared deeply about promoting Indigenous voices and making the arts more accessible.

Former Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner paid tribute to Mr Balnaves’ “relentless optimism, tenacity and passion for making great Australian television.”

Mr Balnaves is a former chair of the Ardent Leisure Group.

His eldest daughter, Alexandra, died in 2019 following a long illness.