Neil Richard Balnaves (5 May 1944 – 21 February 2022) was an Australian media executive and arts philanthropist. His production companies were responsible for bringing Big Brother and Bananas in Pyjamas to Australian television screens.
He turned to philanthropy after a life-threatening accident in 2002, and founded the Balnaves Foundation in 2006, which by the time of his death had given to arts organisations.
Early life
Neil Richard Balnaves was born on 5 May 1944 in Adelaide, South Australia. He grew up in Penola in the south-east of the state, and had polio as a teenager, which crippled his right arm. His family's neighbours were Aboriginal, and he grew up with a positive perception of Indigenous Australians.
Career
Balnaves' media career started in advertising, in Adelaide in 1960, moving into senior roles in production companies.
Balnaves worked in the media industry for over 60 years. He founded the Southern Star Group in 1988, and was executive chairman of the company. The company later went through various mergers and incarnations, becoming Endemol Australia in 2013/2014, Southern Star was responsible for bringing shows such as Water Rats, and McLeod's Daughters, Big Brother and Bananas in Pyjamas to Australian television screens.
From 2003 until 2016 he was chair of the Ardent Leisure Group, responsible for running theme parks such as Dreamworld in Queensland. Other directorships included Hanna-Barbera Australia and the Taft-Hardie Group.
Other roles
Chancellor of Charles Darwin University, 2016–2018
Director and Trustee Member of Bond University
Board member of the Art Gallery of South Australia, 2013–2019
Member of the Advisory Council and Dean's Circle at the UNSW Faculty of Medicine
Director of the Sydney Orthopaedic Research Institute
Member of the Chairmans Circle at 'Sydney Theatre Company
Foundation Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Served various advisory and community organisations
Honours
2009: Honorary doctorate of the Bond University
2010: Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, "for service to the community through philanthropic support for the arts, education, medical research and Indigenous programs, and to business" in the Australia Day Honours 2010: Honorary doctorate of the University of New South Wales
Death and legacy
Balnaves died on 21 February 2022 in a boating accident while holidaying with his wife, Diane, in Tahiti. He was survived by Diane and children Hamish and Victoria. Their sister Alexandra had died after a long illness in 2019.
Philanthropy and interests
Influences
It was after a near-death experience caused by a boating accident on the Gold Coast, Queensland in 2002 that Balnaves turned to philanthropy. He sustained injuries which caused pain and inhibited his ability to travel, so he sold Endemol.
He married Diane in 1971, and he ascribes his love of arts to her influence. Growing up with polio, and being on life support for a while and not being able to walk for a year after his 2002 boating accident led to an interest in health and medicine. Having Aboriginal neighbours as a child fostered his interest in Indigenous cultures of Australia.
Balnaves Foundation
Balnaves established the Balnaves Foundation in 2006, to support the arts, education, and research into medical and social justice issues in Australia. Balnaves said that it was important to him that the foundation focused on "Indigenous Australia, young people and the disadvantaged" in order to help create "a better Australia".
It has given donations to many Australian arts organisations, including the Ensemble Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Sydney Biennale, the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) and TarraWarra Museum of Art. It also awarded a grant to Guardian Australia specifically for "in-depth reporting on Indigenous affairs, and an in-depth reporting project on Australian arts".