Kerry Packer Stories

Gideon Haigh relives the night that changed the game forever, as a near-capacity crowd turned out for a floodlit match at the SCG between the WSC Australia and West Indies sides.

Bill Macartney [World Series Cricket’s publicity director] leaned back in parodied self-satisfaction as his companions looked down on the sea of faces beneath the SCG’s executive chamber. “So,” he drawled, “what do you think of my crowd?” It was 8pm on Tuesday November 28, 1978, and WSC had 50,000 rocking, rollicking converts.

Kerry Packer’s total bets on races are estimated to have sometimes neared $60 million. Over 3 days in the early 1990s, for example, he is rumored to have lost $55 million on races. It should be noted that these losses were amounts he could afford to lose given his vast wealth. Packer's exploits in casinos in London and Las Vegas in the 1980s and 1990s became the stuff of legend, earning him the nickname Prince of Whales. And most of the tales were true. From the 1980s until his death, he was one of the biggest casino gamblers in the world. A largely unknown Kerry Packer arrived in London in late May 1977. He appeared on David Frost 's The Frost Programme to debate his concept with commentators Jim Laker and Robin Marlar. Marlar's aggressive, indignant interrogation of Packer came unstuck when Packer proved to be articulate, witty and confident that his vision was the way of the future.

Australian Story is an acclaimed documentary series - 8pm Mondays on ABC.

“After all the hype and the publicity,” said ticket manager Bruce McDonald, “I would have been disappointed with anything less.”

Their frivolity actually caused some offence in the party. “I really had anticipated a big crowd,” McDonald recalls, “so I was quite underwhelmed. But it upset a few people when they thought I was pooh-bagging the whole thing.” For many in attendance, WSC had become more than cricket, more than business, an end in itself.

McDonald had called Packer before gates opened to describe lines of spectators twisting down Anzac Parade. The 2.15pm toss was transacted for Ian Chappell and Clive Lloyd by 15-year-old Glen Michelic, a WSC coaching find from Fairfield, and the Australians fanned in the field to the strains of “C’mon, Aussie” hurling giveaway white balls into the 5,000 early arrivals.

Kerry Packer during a match between English journalists and Australian journalists

Curious and deferential WSC officers, like an occupying army visiting the deserted bunker of a routed enemy, studied the memorabilia lining their executive room two floors up in the SCG members’ stand. Attentive to the play, they toasted Lillee’s third-ball victory over Viv Richards. But, as Australian success filled the afternoon, and the Hill’s voice swelled, their celebrations became less of cause than effect.

Packer arrived in mid-afternoon, joining McDonald at the turnstiles in the fashion of a retail chain owner keeping his common touch at the till. Reality dawned at tea when an updated crowd figure of 30,000 was confirmed in expectation of the Australian innings. A glance out the back of the executive room confirmed more to come. WSC was not against the establishment this evening. It was the establishment.

Packer had already taken the venturesome step of admitting ladies to the members’ for the first time and, when worried police asked that the gates be opened to ease queues still banked up at turnstiles that had clicked 44,377 times, approval was readily given.

John Cornell, who rarely permitted himself more than a sly smile, was beside Paul Hogan, Austin Robertson, Delvene Delaney and himself. “These people have found truth,” he muttered mystically. He rushed the attendance figure to the press box personally, and dashed to fetch Lillee when the Australian innings began.

Colin Croft bowling in the first match of World Series Cricket

JP Sport’s first client, 4-12 in the bag, had never visited the executive room before and admired the view with awe. “There were hordes of people and cars as far as the eye could see,” he wrote. “As I looked out in the gloomy light I got a tingling feeling through my body.” Tony Greig, arriving late after a cross-country flight with the Amisses and Woolmers, choked back tears.

Chasing 128, the Australian batsmen never had to touch the heights. Ian Davis, striking Bernard Julien for three smart fours, joined his captain in an even-time stand of 42. When the target narrowed to 34 runs with 20 overs remaining, three cheap wickets stirred the Hill’s “C’mon, Aussie” choir, but robust blows from Davis and Marsh clinched the match by 9.20pm.

Match reports were revealing, not so much in what was written but what was not. The local press contingent was three-strong: the Australian’s Phil Wilkins had only two news agency companions. Packer’s Fairfax rivals gave their syndicated copy grudging space, although the organisation’s National Times a fortnight later carried Adrian McGregor’s colourful, intelligent tribute. “The incongruity of it all,” he wrote. “That Packer at that moment, so absolutely removed from the hoi polloi, should have… achieved the proletarianisation of cricket. He had enticed sports fans out of the pubs… transforming the subtleties of traditional cricket into the spectacular that is night cricket.”

“The incongruity of it all,” Adrian McGregor wrote. “That Packer at that moment, so absolutely removed from the hoi polloi, should have.. achieved the proletarianisation of cricket.”

At his moment of triumph, Packer was also reflective, and intently entertained a cross-section of his world: the day-time television favourite Mike Walsh, celebrity sportscaster Mike Gibson, the telethinker Bruce Gyngell and agent Harry M Miller mixed with Lillee and Marsh, Sobers and Lloyd.

Greig found his boss thoughtfully absorbed when he whispered his belief: “This is it.”

Originally published in 1993, an updated version of The Cricket War, with new photographs and a new introduction by the author, is out now, published by Bloomsbury

Kerry Packer Cricket

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire James Packer’s dream of opening a landmark casino in his home city of Sydney hangs in the balance after a damning report into money laundering and organized crime links found Crown Resorts Ltd. isn’t fit to hold a gaming license. The company’s stock fell.

In an excoriating report released Tuesday, retired judge Patricia Bergin recommended that Packer, Crown’s largest shareholder with a 36% stake, be subject to a 10% ownership cap that requires special permission to be lifted. She called for the departure of the CEO and key directors and an overhaul of the firm’s culture and governance before the casino can open.

© Bloomberg Casino Dream Dashed as Crown Seen Unfit for License

Site offices and cranes at the Crown Resorts Ltd. Barangaroo South luxury hotel resort and One Barangaroo Crown residences development in Sydney, Feb. 10.

Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

“The scorching light of this inquiry has exposed a number of problems that would have otherwise remained unearthed and unresolved,” Bergin said in the 751-page report. Crown was currently “quite unsuitable” to hold a casino license in Sydney, she said.

Bergin said it was clear Crown “enabled and facilitated” money laundering through bank accounts tied to its Perth and Melbourne casinos for at least five years before 2019. Crown had prioritized profits before the welfare of its staff, and worked with people connected to organized criminal gangs, she said.

CEO Ken Barton “has demonstrated that he is no match for what is needed at the helm of a casino licensee,” Bergin said.

Crown shares plunged as much as 8.9% before closing down 3.4% in Sydney. That valued the Melbourne-based company at A$6.6 billion. S&P Global Ratings placed its rating on Crown on CreditWatch, saying Bergin’s proposals “heighten the risk of permanent license loss for Crown Sydney and its operations.”

Read: Crown Shares Likely Face Regulatory Overhang for Months

© Getty Images Crown Resorts Holds Annual General Meeting Following Accusations Of Misconduct

James Packer

Photographer: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

The report, one of the most damning indictments of an Australian company in recent memory, caps a torrid period for 53-year-old Packer, who’d envisaged the soaring A$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) harborside hotel and gaming complex as his family’s legacy to Sydney. Any forced sale of his empire’s cornerstone investment would complete Packer’s retreat from Australia’s corporate landscape, which his media baron father Kerry dominated for decades.

“If that’s enforced, Crown will be changed forever,” said Warren Staples, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne who focuses on business ethics and corporate governance, referring to Bergin’s proposed limit on individual shareholdings. “It’s a watershed day in terms of recommendations.”

Still, her findings aren’t enforceable: The New South Wales state gaming authority will discuss her recommendations on Feb. 12, while regulators in neighboring Victoria state are considering Crown’s suitability to run its Melbourne casino.

“They’ve got a lot of work to do to satisfy us,” Philip Crawford, chairman of the NSW gaming regulator, told reporters on Wednesday. “Things have got to change.”

The overhaul started almost immediately. Crown directors and Packer nominees Guy Jalland and Michael Johnston quit early Wednesday. And Packer’s private investment company said it would have “no involvement” with the Crown board, giving directors “clear air” to work with the regulator on a plan to reform.

Bergin’s report is a rare, unvarnished assessment of the way one of Australia’s most storied corporate dynasties -- the Packers -- does business. It also continues a drama-filled period that stretches back to 2016, when Chinese authorities rounded up Crown staff on the mainland, before a court convicted 19 current and former employees of illegally promoting gambling. Packer has since tried to sell some or all of his stake in Crown to at least two buyers, including Wynn Resorts Ltd.

© Bloomberg Crown's Turbulent Years

Packer “almost certainly will sell down” his stake, said Charles Livingstone, an associate professor at Melbourne’s Monash University who specializes in gambling policy and regulation. But he said an overhaul of Crown’s board, management and culture will take time.

It’s “hard to see how Crown is going to get in a position where it can open this new casino anytime soon,” Livingstone said.

James Packer

Bergin’s inquiry was triggered by a series of media articles in 2019 that alleged money laundering took place at Crown’s casinos and the company used junket companies with ties to criminal gangs.

It’s now unclear when the gaming tables at Crown’s Sydney resort might open. While retail operations at the site are underway, the start of gambling has been on hold since December. Tuesday’s findings also put a cloud over Crown’s other casinos in Australia.

Victoria’s state gaming regulator, which has already brought forward a review of Crown’s license in Melbourne, said Bergin’s report “would be of strong interest” and “will inform any regulatory action which may be required.” In Western Australia, home to Crown’s Perth casino, Premier Mark McGowan said the state government will review the report and stamp out any unlawful conduct.

The report heaped criticism on the relationship between Crown and Packer’s investment company, Consolidated Press Holdings, which manages the billionaire’s assets.

Lines of reporting lines were blurred, risks weren’t properly identified, conflicts or potential conflicts were not recognized, and Crown’s corporate needs weren’t given precedence over those of Packer’s investment company, she said.

Packer’s influence on Crown and its operations, even when he wasn’t a board member, had “rather disastrous consequences for the company” Bergin said.

Crown’s Flagship Casino License on Review as Pressure Mounts

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Crown Tightens Money-Laundering Controls, Eyes New Directors

For more on the Crown inquiry:

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