By Andrew Clarke
Date posted: 26 November 2025
Jacinta Allen, today I don’t care about potholes, rail links or tollways. Jess Wilson, I don’t care about state debt and crime… what I do care about is that the State of Victoria appropriately honours Allan Moffat.
I do not hand out the word “legend” lightly. In sport, it gets slapped onto everything from a decent weekend to a decent bloke who once knew someone famous. But Allan Moffat was the real thing. The type you grow up learning about before you even understand why cars go fast or why racing matters, he was my first motor racing hero before I discovered Formula 1. I’m sure I am not the only one who will state that.
His death has knocked the wind out of Australia’s sporting lungs. And now the question is being asked quietly, respectfully, almost shyly: should Allan Moffat receive a state funeral?
My answer is simple. Yes. Absolutely yes. And here is why.
This country has built its sporting identity around a handful of icons who shaped the way we compete, the way we behave and the way we remember ourselves. Moffat is right there with them, despite migrating here from Canada. He is not a niche figure. He is not a cult favourite. He is one of the pillars of Australian motorsport and, by extension, Australian sport.
Forget the Ford versus Holden stuff for a minute. Forget the tribalism. Forget whether you grew up hating him, loving him or doing both, depending on which side of Conrod you were standing. Moffat set the standard. He professionalised this sport long before anyone else accepted that it was needed. He put discipline, presentation and sheer bloody-minded excellence at the centre of racing. He changed the expectations of drivers. He changed the expectations of teams. He changed the expectations of fans.
And he did it while dragging the sport out of the shed and onto the world stage.
A state funeral is not about trophies. If it were, Moffat qualifies easily, four Bathursts, four ATCC titles, Sandown dominance, international wins are surely enough, but that is not the point. A state funeral is a recognition of someone whose contribution ripples far beyond their own achievements. Someone whose work becomes cultural infrastructure.
Every major Australian motorsport figure still active today, from drivers to team owners to manufacturers, is operating in a world shaped by Allan Moffat. His intensity, his professionalism, his demand for standards, that is the DNA of the modern Supercars paddock. Drivers train differently because of him. Teams present differently because of him. Our entire racing culture mirrors his attitude, whether people realise it or not.
Allan Moffat signs his autobiography in 2018. Image: Andrew Clarke
And then there is the simple truth: he mattered to people. Deeply. Across generations.
I have interviewed drivers who still get nervous when they remember the glare he gave them thirty years ago. I have watched grown adults turn into teenagers when they see one of his cars fired up. That is cultural impact. That is national significance.
I spent years writing about Moffat, interviewing him, listening to stories from people who worked for him, fought with him, cried because of him, and loved him despite the fact that he rarely said the word back. He was complicated, brilliant, blunt, private, intense and utterly committed to the idea that racing should mean something. And through that, he helped Australia understand itself a little better.
We are a country built on sport, but more than that, we are a country built on the people who made their sport bigger than themselves. Moffat did that. He deserves the same recognition given to the greats of our other codes, because his contribution is every bit as significant. He did not just race cars; he built a national story.
A state funeral would not be about politics. It would not be about Ford or Holden. It would not be about picking sides. It would be about acknowledging a man whose impact is stitched into the fabric of Australian life. It would be about this country honouring one of the giants who helped define who we are.
Allan Moffat earned that honour.
I have no idea if Allan’s family is talking to the Victoria government, and in some ways, I don’t care. Victoria should at least make the offer.
Allan Moffat and Fred Gibson. Image: Bruce Williams
State Funerals
In Victoria, state funerals aren’t automatic. They’re offered at the discretion of the Premier to Victorians whose contribution is considered to be of outstanding significance to the state, and only with the agreement of the family. The service is organised by the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s protocol team and is intended as a formal opportunity for the public to honour a major figure in the life of the state.
In Victorian motorsport, the bar for a state funeral has been set incredibly high, reserved so far for Peter Brock, and, in a broader sense, former Grand Prix supremo Ron Walker, which underlines just how serious a tribute it would be for Allan Moffat. But also why it is appropriate.
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