James Packer: Relaxed, relieved and no tears from Argentina haven

James Packer appears at the WA royal commission via videolink on Friday.

It was a balmy 27 degrees and the sun had set 10 minutes before James Packer took his seat on Thursday evening before a video screen at his luxury Ellerstina polo ranch, an hour’s drive from Buenos Aires in northeastern Argentina.

Named after his family’s NSW polo property, Ellerston – now owned by his sister Gretel following a billion dollar-plus settlement of their father Kerry’s estate – it was the place where he celebrated his 50th birthday in September 2017.

A year earlier he had gone into hiding there after the break-up of his engagement to pop diva Mariah Carey.

Now an annual visit to Ellerstina at the end of October is part of the billionaire’s routine. A week ago, he was at his sprawling $80m Los Angeles mansion which was once owned by actor Danny DeVito.

Ellerstina is one of the two places in the world that Packer feels safest. The other is at sea on his soon-to-be sold super yacht “IJE” bearing the initials of his children, Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuelle.

Ironically, these were the locations he chose to give evidence under oath to two public inquiries with royal commission powers – two occasions in his life when he has felt the most insecure, exposed and under unprecedented public scrutiny.

The bonus of his appearance on Friday Australian time before the West Australian gaming regulator’s inquiry into Crown Resorts was that it had nothing of the stress and drama that plagued his appearance before similar hearings in NSW last year.

Dressed in a black suit, blue business shirt, red tie and donning the black horn-rimmed glasses that conceal the glazed look in his eyes that so shocked the world last year, Packer looked far more relaxed and in-control than he did in previous exchanges with NSW Commissioner Patricia Bergin and her counsels assisting.

Packer even produced a wide smile in the first few minutes of his dialogue with counsel assisting the WA inquiry Patricia Cahill, and later thanked everyone in Perth for getting up so early – it was a 630am start Perth time.

He acknowledged there were “many oversights” during his time chairing the board of the company overseeing Crown Perth, from not appointing a director with financial crimes or money laundering experience to his lack of attendance at board meetings from 2013 to 2016. On the latter issue, he acknowledged that he should have resigned the chairmanship at that time.

Packer’s six-year marriage to Erica Baxter fell apart in September 2013, when the billionaire fled abroad to pursue his dreams to build a life in America, including in Hollywood.

But he stressed it was “completely wrong” to say that he was “disengaged and disinterested in any aspect of Crown Perth’s operations other than its financial performance”.

There were glimpses of the old Packer spirit.

Challenged about Crown’s commitment to Perth, his response was resolute: “No one tried harder to build the best hotel in Australia than we did, noting that he was “financially and emotionally committed to Perth”.

The irony is the more than $1bn Crown spent in the WA capital is still years from generating an acceptable return.

There was also a potential unexpected bonus for Packer in Friday’s hearing. This week, the Finkelstein inquiry in Victoria recommended Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings reduce the size of its stake in Crown from 37 per cent to 5 per cent by September 2024 so that neither could ever again become close associates of the casino.

But Packer revealed his lawyers think the date could actually be October 2026, given CPH a month ago extended by two years undertakings previously given to the NSW and Victorian governments to basically have no involvement in Crown’s affairs for the next three years.

It remains to be seen whether the Victorian government legislates to make Packer’s share sale deadline 2024 or 2026.

For all the headlines, it capped a good week for the troubled billionaire, given Finkelstein ultimately decided Crown should be allowed to continue to operate its Melbourne casino – albeit will be under unprecedented scrutiny from a special manager who will have veto rights over any decision made by the board.

It was a far cry from Packer’s greatest fears – that the governance and money laundering scandals of the past decade would see Melbourne stripped of its flagship gaming licence.

The Finkelstein decision added $200m to the value of Packer’s Crown shareholding on Tuesday, and while the shares have since drifted in value, they are still well above Monday’s closing price.

Packer still remains keen to sell his Crown shares at the right price, but will continue to bide his time. For a while now, Crown and its assets have no longer held the emotional attraction they once did. Nor has the country of his birth.

He revealed on Friday he intended to proceed with the $60m purchase of a two-level luxury apartment within the Crown Sydney development known as One Barangaroo.

But asked if he would live there, there was a long pause before he replied, almost with a whisper: “I’m not sure yet.”

It’s a fair bet he never will.