James Packer’s hate vomit lands on curious shoes

When James Packer emerged from the privacy of his yacht in Fiji for a tell-all interview about who he likes and hates, it felt bizarre that the heat of his spear was directed at former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.

The way Packer tells it, Andrews imposed a hefty additional tax on Packer’s former casino group Crown Resorts in the lead-up to the company’s sale – an impost that could have toppled the $8.9 billion purchase by Blackstone.

But the deal survived, Packer walked away with his share of $3.3 billion and Blackstone finalised a deal that now looks like one of the worst in modern corporate history for the buyer while Packer, who sold his holding, was hit in the posterior by a rainbow.

Packer’s version of history, as conveyed in an interview with Rampart, is that Andrews, who he now brands as “human filth,” cost Crown tens of millions of dollars in earnings thanks to imposing additional taxes on Crown.

You would think Packer should be happy with the ultimate outcome – one that gave him billions of dollars to restart his life as a free agent and leave the casino mess behind him.

The Dan Andrews hate club is hardly exclusive – there are many Victorians holding a beef against the former premier, blaming him for many of the state’s ills.

Among them are those holding the view that Victoria’s casinos (this also applies to NSW) were left under-regulated and under-scrutinised for years, which allowed the misconduct which was ultimately uncovered by the media, to fester.

It was ultimately a series of Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry spanning NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia that further unmasked the egregious behaviour of casinos and their links to money laundering.

The state governments and their regulators do deserve plenty of criticism – not because they acted to install a regulatory vice, but because they applied the onerous conditions too late – allowing for casino misconduct for years.

Star and Crown casinos were ultimately found unfit to hold a licence and Packer was instructed by the regulator to sell down most of his stake in Crown.

Given Packer was the largest shareholder in Crown during the years of its misconduct and escaped with a $3.3 billion payday, one would think he would be counting his blessings.

Some former directors and executives of the NSW-based Star Entertainment are awaiting judgment in a case launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Packer reserves a particular disdain for NSW Independent Casino Commission chief Philip Crawford, who held up the opening of Crown’s Sydney casino and led the NSW regulator during the period of Star’s misconduct.

“It’s one of the miracles of life that Philip Crawford’s got a job,” said Packer. “Star was operating under Philip Crawford’s watch.

Packer is right that the economics of the casino industry in Australia have been torpedoed, but he glosses over the misconduct in which the industry was engaged that led to draconian measures being applied.

Crown’s finances are less transparent now that it is no longer listed, but this year appears to have made its first profit after a series of losses under the ownership of Blackstone.

It now appears to have paid off the last instalment of a $450 million fine to Austrac resulting from former breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

The Star has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for more than a year, but is surviving for now thanks to a cash injection from US casino operator Bally’s Corporation.

One of Packer’s legitimate observations is that there are more onerous regulations applied to gaming in casinos that pubs and clubs have escaped.

It isn’t a level playing field, but the solution would be to impose heavier restrictions on pubs, rather than wind back those on casinos.

But from the comfort of his luxury yacht Packer should be happy that he no longer needs to contend with Australia’s troubled casino sector.

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