Axe Man
01-05-2019, 10:27 AM
Jeff Kennett: AFL legend Ted Whitten’s state funeral came about after a prank (https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/jeff-kennett-afl-legend-ted-whittens-state-funeral-came-about-after-a-prank/news-story/413942b8b2e110121385383f9eeff005)
https://i.postimg.cc/VL5szrQW/image.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
On August 17, 1995, the great Footscray player and football identity, Ted Whitten, died after a long illness. I was premier at the time.
I woke up early on August 18 to be confronted by this newspaper’s front page reporting Ted’s death and stating that my government had offered his family a state funeral.
State funerals are normally limited to very few prominent people. Footballers, however good they were, did not meet the criteria.
So to say I was surprised that my government, without my knowledge or approval, had offered a state funeral was an understatement. I had known Ted, respected him and did not want to cause his family any additional grief.
I rang my chief of staff, John Griffin, to find out who had offered the state funeral. He assured me no one from government had made such an offer.
I smelt a rat. I asked John to contact Ted’s family and to apologise but say there had been a mistake and the government had not offered a state funeral.
John called, but before he could tell them about the mistake, he was told how much Mrs Whitten and the family appreciated the generous offer.
Abashed, John called me and said he could not tell a grieving family, within 24 hours of the death of their husband, father and grandfather, that it was all a mistake.
There was only one thing to do. Given the esteem in which Ted was held by the community and the sympathy extended to his family, I knew there was no option but to go ahead with the state funeral. But I had no idea who had told the Herald Sun that my government had approved the funeral and I was more than surprised that the paper hadn’t confirmed the story with us.
I thought that perhaps the fact that Ted died late on the night of August 17 might have contributed to the urgency to get the story into the last edition.
But I suspected I might have been set up. Given my not-so-close relationship with The Age newspaper at the time, I suspected that one or more of their journalists was responsible.
But I could not prove it. Until last week.
Last Thursday, I flew to Hobart for a few days in Tasmania, a trip that culminated with Hawthorn’s game against Carlton in Launceston on Sunday.
It was while I was waiting for the flight to Tasmania that one of the culprits approached me and confessed to his involvement and that of two others.
I was further told the plan was conceived while the three were in an extraordinarily relaxed state at the Imperial Hotel opposite Parliament House. I have to admit that it was a prank that worked.
When they heard of Whitten’s death late on August 17, one of them called the night editor at the Herald Sun and claimed to be one of my press officers, the late David Wilson.
It was explained that the government would offer a state funeral to Whitten’s family. A press release, the Herald Sun was told, would follow.
I suspect that because of the lateness of the hour, and the fact it was well-known that I held Wilson in very high regard, the newspaper decided to run with the story.
In the end, there was no harm done and the Whitten family certainly appreciated the state funeral which, up until that point, had been offered to very few citizens. In fact, since the death of Ted Whitten, many more citizens who have made major contributions to Australian life, beyond public service, have been given state funerals — so maybe the prank has brought about something that better reflects the times we live in.
And, of course, however it came about, the Herald Sun’s reporting of the honour given to Ted meant that once again it had scooped The Age.
https://i.postimg.cc/VL5szrQW/image.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
On August 17, 1995, the great Footscray player and football identity, Ted Whitten, died after a long illness. I was premier at the time.
I woke up early on August 18 to be confronted by this newspaper’s front page reporting Ted’s death and stating that my government had offered his family a state funeral.
State funerals are normally limited to very few prominent people. Footballers, however good they were, did not meet the criteria.
So to say I was surprised that my government, without my knowledge or approval, had offered a state funeral was an understatement. I had known Ted, respected him and did not want to cause his family any additional grief.
I rang my chief of staff, John Griffin, to find out who had offered the state funeral. He assured me no one from government had made such an offer.
I smelt a rat. I asked John to contact Ted’s family and to apologise but say there had been a mistake and the government had not offered a state funeral.
John called, but before he could tell them about the mistake, he was told how much Mrs Whitten and the family appreciated the generous offer.
Abashed, John called me and said he could not tell a grieving family, within 24 hours of the death of their husband, father and grandfather, that it was all a mistake.
There was only one thing to do. Given the esteem in which Ted was held by the community and the sympathy extended to his family, I knew there was no option but to go ahead with the state funeral. But I had no idea who had told the Herald Sun that my government had approved the funeral and I was more than surprised that the paper hadn’t confirmed the story with us.
I thought that perhaps the fact that Ted died late on the night of August 17 might have contributed to the urgency to get the story into the last edition.
But I suspected I might have been set up. Given my not-so-close relationship with The Age newspaper at the time, I suspected that one or more of their journalists was responsible.
But I could not prove it. Until last week.
Last Thursday, I flew to Hobart for a few days in Tasmania, a trip that culminated with Hawthorn’s game against Carlton in Launceston on Sunday.
It was while I was waiting for the flight to Tasmania that one of the culprits approached me and confessed to his involvement and that of two others.
I was further told the plan was conceived while the three were in an extraordinarily relaxed state at the Imperial Hotel opposite Parliament House. I have to admit that it was a prank that worked.
When they heard of Whitten’s death late on August 17, one of them called the night editor at the Herald Sun and claimed to be one of my press officers, the late David Wilson.
It was explained that the government would offer a state funeral to Whitten’s family. A press release, the Herald Sun was told, would follow.
I suspect that because of the lateness of the hour, and the fact it was well-known that I held Wilson in very high regard, the newspaper decided to run with the story.
In the end, there was no harm done and the Whitten family certainly appreciated the state funeral which, up until that point, had been offered to very few citizens. In fact, since the death of Ted Whitten, many more citizens who have made major contributions to Australian life, beyond public service, have been given state funerals — so maybe the prank has brought about something that better reflects the times we live in.
And, of course, however it came about, the Herald Sun’s reporting of the honour given to Ted meant that once again it had scooped The Age.