The exclusive and extravagant November launch event announcing the Australian War Memorial's upcoming half-billion dollar redevelopment cost more than $800,000.
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The memorial reported a contract through the federal government's online procurement system, AusTender, worth $842,991.60 with Sydney based company Imagination (Australia).
However, memorial director Brendan Nelson said the memorial spent $34,000 on the launch event with $740,000 coming from billionaire Kerry Stokes who is chair of the War Memorial Council.
The invite-only event, hosted by former Sunrise host Melissa Doyle, was attended by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, shadow veterans' affairs spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith and other invited guests.
It was hosted in the Great Hall at Parliament House and, in addition to artists' impressions of the memorial's redevelopment, attendees were shown a series of videos of Australian veterans recounting their experiences.
Dr Nelson was grateful for Mr Stokes' donation and said the event was only able to be held due to his "generosity and vision".
"When I was minister for defence, I was then first introduced to Kerry Stokes' deep commitment to and passion for the men and women who wear and have worn the uniform of the Australian Defence Force," Dr Nelson said.
"He has done and continues to support veterans, veterans' organisations, families in a myriad of ways that are unknown to the public."
He added that during his tenure as director, Mr Stokes has purchased and donated items to the collection, such as Victoria Crosses, and has said on multiple occasions that public money should only be spent on specific areas and had covered the cost himself for other things.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Stokes, who has donated to many cultural institutions around Australia, defended the size of the government spend despite other institutions struggling to secure funding.
"[Cultural institutions] are looked after better in this country than any other country," the Seven West chairman said in November.
"There's always a demand for more funds than there are available. Goodness, wouldn't it be nice if we could satisfy expectation and every desire? We can't, priorities have to be made. The priority at the moment is for the war memorial."
Dr Nelson said at the launch that the redevelopment would help the memorial highlight and explore recent conflicts and was an important part of memorialising defence personnel from the "Invictus generation".
The redevelopment has garnered criticism for the amount of public money to be spent and for the plan to demolish the currently standing Anzac Hall, which was only completed in 2001.
The company contracted to manage the event, Imagination (Australia), is the creative director behind the Sydney New Year's fireworks display. It has also organised firework and light show displays for the Department of Defence and held various roles during Anzac centenary celebrations.
