James Packer: I want to swim with my kids at Bondi

The billionaire reveals his plans to return to Australia, how he kicked ‘mood-altering drugs’ – and how his former wife Erica will help redecorate the family’s Crown Sydney apartment

James Packer with his children Jackson, Indigo and Emmanuelle at their luxurious mansion in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Picture: Ana Badillo

James Packer says he is looking forward to returning to Australia, seeing the finished Crown casino in Sydney for the first time – and jumping into the water at Bondi.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian, the gaming billionaire revealed he had been on seven different “mood-altering drugs prescribed to me by my doctor”, which he had ditched in March. He was the happiest he had been “in years”.

Mr Packer was speaking after the casino group his family has been associated with for decades – Crown Resorts – was sold to American private equity firm Blackstone.

That gave him and his family a $3.3bn windfall.

Mr Packer, in Cabo San Lucas with his children Jackson, 12, Indigo, 13, and Emmanuelle, 9, told The Weekend Australian that he wanted to “rehabilitate his reputation”.

“I have a great family, I inherited a fortune and I’ve lived a full and varied life and met some of the most incredible people in the world,” he said.

“I got off all my antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs in March,” he said, adding he had previously been taking numerous mood-altering drugs prescribed to him by his doctors.

“I have started a diet and have lost 25kg in 75 days so far. I’m roughly 130kg now and want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022. I want to swim with my kids at Bondi when we’re all in Sydney together next year and be 100kg.”

James Packer says he wants to swim with his children at Bondi next year. Picture: Ana Badillo

Mr Packer was last in Australia in January 2020, when Crown’s Barangaroo operation was just a building site. He was last publicly seen in October 2020 when he appeared – on video – at an inquiry investigating Crown’s fitness to hold a ­casino licence in NSW.

The billionaire will spend time on his yacht in Europe over summer, before heading to his polo resort in Argetina and then to Aspen for Christmas, he told The Weekend Australian.

Mr Packer owns the penthouse in Crown Sydney – which he purchased for $72m. He said his former wife, Erica, would decorate the apartment. “It’s going to be a family apartment that I will use when I’m in Sydney, Eri will use when she’s in Sydney, and our kids will also use when they’re in Sydney,” he said.

Crown’s Barangaroo gaming floor will also be open by the time Mr Packer arrives in Australia. This week, the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority granted the company a gaming license – but attached a raft of strict conditions.