Ex-Crown Resorts boss John Alexander denies James Packer caused conflict of interest

Former Crown boss and ‘close ally’ of the Packer family John Alexander saw no conflict in working for the casino group and its largest shareholder at the same time.

James Packer, left, and ​John Alexander pictured in 2017 arriving at the Crown Resorts AGM. Picture: AFP

Former Crown Resorts boss John Alexander has told a royal commission it was not a conflict of interest to simultaneously sit on the board of the casino giant while being employed by its largest shareholder James Packer – despite conceding his “first loyalty” lay with the billionaire mogul.

Mr Alexander – a former executive chairman of Crown – also launched a defence of Mr Packer’s legacy at Crown while telling the West Australian probe into the company that he doubted whether its current boss Helen Coonan represented a break from the “old Crown” culture.

The WA royal commission is examining whether Crown should be able to continue operating its Perth casino, the only one in the state.

On Thursday counsel assisting the commission Patricia Cahill SC asked Mr Alexander whether his pre-2017 dual status as deputy executive chairman at Crown and executive at Mr Packer’s private company Consolidates Press Holdings (CPH) placed him in a “position of potential, if not actual conflict of interest”.

“No I don’t, we were acting in the interest of Crown shareholders,” Mr Alexander replied, despite agreeing that his “first loyalty” lay with Mr Packer and he was a “close ally” of the family owing to his long history as an executive underneath James’ father, Kerry Packer.

“My entire rationale for my doing it … was to really drill down into the business, perhaps in a more forensic sense that had happened in the past, because the financial outcomes weren’t as budgeted.

“He wanted, along with the rest of the Crown board for that matter, an improvement in performance.”

Mr Alexander ceased being an employee of CPH around the time he became executive chairman of Crown in 2017.

But he continued to share financial information with Mr Packer under a confidential shareholding agreement established in 2018, after Mr Packer resigned as a Crown director for mental health reasons

Mr Packer currently owns around 37 per cent of Crown.

Former Crown Resorts executive chairman and James Packer confidant John Alexander, left, gives evidence to chief commissioner of the WA royal commission into Crown Resorts, Neville Owen on Thursday.

Mr Alexander said he couldn’t remember sharing information about in-camera board meetings with Mr Packer under the agreement, claiming Mr Packer would have received most of his information from his two nominee directors.

“He had two directors on the board, so he would have been given much more explicit accounts of what had happened from the board meetings than from myself,” he said.

Mr Alexander also seemed unconcerned that the two nominee directors, later joined by a third – former Crown Perth chair John Poynton – had a services agreement with CPH that allowed Mr Packer to also request information.

“As a nominee of Mr Packer on the board, I would not be surprised by he (Poynton) or his (Packer’s) other two nominees passing on information,” he said.

Mr Alexander resigned as executive chairman in January 2020 in the lead up to the NSW Bergin Inquiry, which revoked Crown’s Sydney casino licence earlier this year.

He then resigned from the board in October 2020, the same month Crown cancelled the shareholder agreement with Mr Packer after the inquiry heard his “deleterious” influence created a “profits-first” culture.

The Bergin Inquiry caused an exodus of staff linked to Mr Packer and vaulted non-executive director Helen Coonan into the top job, who promised to overhaul the “old Crown” and create a company suitable to operate its Sydney, Perth and Melbourne casinos.

But Mr Alexander expressed doubt over Ms Coonan’s claims, pointing out she had been a board member since 2011.

“I mean Ms Coonan was a long time director of Crown, so she’s probably old Crown as well,” he said.

“The board meetings were places where there was only one view.”

Mr Alexander defended Mr Packer’s record, saying he made positive changes when he inherited the assets that later became Crown from his father in 2005.

“The company did go through a fairly significant metamorphosis from the time the late Mr Kerry Packer passed away,” Mr Alexander said, explaining governance issues were not formally “front of mind”

“Actually, one of the first things his son James did when he inherited the company was to always throw that on its head and recruited five of the most senior independent, experienced business people in the country … and place them on the board of the then PBL.

“And ever since then, I believe, the company’s been evolving – perhaps not as rapidly as it should have.”

The commission will continue on August 30.