Eddie McGuire defends the hefty cost of Shane Warne’s state memorial service

Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s incredible state funeral cost $1.6 million according to newly released government documents, now media personality Eddie McGuire’s has defended the price tag.

Shane’s state memorial service took place on March 30, 2023, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground a few weeks after the legend died from a heart attack while in Thailand.

The Age reported that the two-hour service cost taxpayers $1.6 million.

Television personality Eddie McGuire has revealed while speaking on 3AW that his production company JAM TV was allocated $1 million to broadcast the memorial both nationally and internationally.

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

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

He added the service needed to take place at the MCG due to Shane Warne’s stand needing to be unveiled, also while promoting Melbourne after coronavirus induced a lockdown.

“It didn’t need to have these things done – no but we did because it went around the world,” he said.

“I had executive producers from Hollywood ringing me the next day who I’d never heard of, who just said ‘we saw this, this was incredible’.

“We put our heart and soul into this because we loved Shane and we love this city.”

More than 55,000 people attended the service with performances from major celebrities including Elton John, Coldplay singer Chris Martin and Robbie Williams.

According to The Age, the Victorian government paid $2.8 million for major state funerals in 2022 with Shane’s being the most expensive.

The price for Olivia Newton-John’s state memorial in December remains unclear, however the news publication claimed a preliminary planning document from the Arts Centre suggested a proposed budget of up to $500,000.

Profile Tia Thomas Senior Digital Content Producer

After completing a Bachelor of Communication, majoring in Journalism and Media Production, Tia began her career in media 2022. She writes on the Now To Love website, particularly for the legacy brand TV Week and manages its social media platforms. She is currently the Senior Digital Content Producer on Now To Love, writing predominately for TV Week while managing all its social media platforms. It is here she can combine her professional and personal passions for reality TV, drama, celebrity, Australian and International TV – and donning her favourite clothes for a red carpet to interview some of television’s best.