James Packer, ex-wife Erica and kids jet out of Sydney after nine-day trip

Packer your bags, kids— Billionaire James, ex-wife Erica and their children have jetted out to South America on a private plane tonight, wrapping up a nine-day stay in Sydney.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Erica Packer spotted meeting with UNICEF Australia CEO Tony Stuart in Pyrmont. Picture: Media Mode.

Billionaire James Packer and his family jetted out of Sydney yesterday after a flying nine-day visit to his former hometown.

Packer, his ex-wife Erica and their three children, Indigo, 14, Jackson, 13, and Emmanuelle, 10, boarded a long-haul BombardierGlobal 7500 private jet bound for Argentina and his private polo ranch Ellerstina outside Buenos Aires.

The Sydney visit was the first time the former casino mogul had seen the finished Crown Sydney tower that he once said was his chance “to do something special” and provide a legacy for the Harbour City.

Since then he has appeared at the damning public inquiry that found Crown Sydney was unsuitable to hold a casino licence andsold his stake in the company for $3.2 billion.

“It hasn’t been appropriate for me to be in Australia for the last few years,” he conceded in an interview a year ago.

Billionaire James Packer has flown his family out of Sydney.Picture: MediaMode

Former wife Erica Packer was also spotted boarding the family’s private plane. Picture: MediaMode

But he was looking forward to returning. ‘I am very much looking forward to seeing Crown Sydney,” he said.

Mother of his three children Erica turned to her friend, LA celebrity interior designer Nathan Turner to convert the vast Sydney Harbourfront two-storey complex of glass, steel, and marble into a comfortable family home.

The Packers’ sumptuous apartment, housed in the same complex as this one, has recently been refurnished.

Following a report here last month recounting how builders were working around the clock to finish the apartment ahead of the family visit, came word Turner took a “layered” approach to transform the 25-plus-room space.

During their brief stay Packer did not fulfil his promise to swim with his children at Bondi but Erica did take time to meet a top Australian CEO.

The Packer clan’s homecoming holiday to Sydney has been more of a work trip for Erica, who was spotted meeting with Unicef Australia CEO Tony Stuart.

The former Mrs Packer looked smart-casual for her lunch meeting with Mr Stuart in Pyrmont, wearing an all grey ensemble, sandals, and a, $11,000 blue leather Hermes Roulis handbag.

The former Mrs Packer looked smart-casual for her lunch meeting with Stuart in Pyrmont. Picture: Media Mode.

As a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, Erica has helped raise funds for schools in disadvantaged rural areas in Cambodia and Laos for more than a decade.

In 2021, the Gunnedah-born former model brought the work closer to home, creating a bushfire response program to deliver community grants to the most affected areas and schools of NSW.

Despite separating in 2013, the fomer couple are on friendly terms and even occasionally live in the same compounds in the US with their three children, Indigo, 14, Jackson, 13, and Emmanuelle, 10.

“I am really proud that despite splitting up, James and I have managed to stay such great friends and co-parents,” she told Vogue Australia editor in an intimate feature in 2021.

James Packer and Erica in 2006. They later married before divorcing in 2013. Picture: Patrick Riviere

“It’s so important for our children to know that we were deeply in love and still do have love for each other.”

They were pictured touching down in Sydney on a ‘rent-a-jet’ flight from Saudi Arabia with their two daughters last week, marking the casino magnate’s return to the Harbour City after three years.

Though fast coming up on the 10th anniversary of the couple’s divorce, Packer has previously said he hopes the family unit will use the Crown apartment as their Australian base during visits home.