Why James Packer may never call Sydney home again

Crown Sydney has been a long-held dream of James Packer but the reclusive billionaire is undecided about his $60m apartment at the casino complex.

Higher spirits: James Packer tours Crown Resorts Barangaroo site in early 2020.

It took James Packer almost 10 seconds to answer a question about whether he intended to move into his $60m apartment in One Barangaroo, Sydney’s newest landmark and jewel in Crown’s casino empire.

The apartment, split over two floors with harbour views, and casino complex had been a long-held dream of Mr Packer but now the reclusive billionaire doubts whether he will ever call the place home.

When counsel assisting the WA royal commission into Crown Patricia Cahill SC asked him if he intended to move in, Mr Packer took his time to answer, finally responding in almost a whisper.

“Um … I’m not sure yet,” he said.

Ms Cahill asked the question to gauge what steps Mr Packer would take to ensure that he would not interfere with the running of Crown Resorts, given the complex also houses the company’s Sydney executive offices, including former executive chair Helen Coonan’s corner suite.

James Packer speaking in 2013 in front of an artist’s impression of the winning design for his Crown Casino Barangaroo development, seen at upper left and now completed. Picture: AAP

While Mr Packer has been subject to intense scrutiny over Crown’s illegal conduct given his role as its biggest shareholder and former executive chairman, it has not taken separate inquiries in three states to change how he feels about Australia’s biggest city.

“I have such a funny relationship with Sydney. I am written about more than anyone other than present politicians,” he told The Australian’s Damon Kitney in his 408-page biography The Price of Fortune, published in 2018.

“Truth is, I’m scared of Sydney. I’m scared of the newspapers. I don’t want to be hit any more. I worry whether Sydney will ever feel like home again. There is a lot of pain there for me.”

His mother Ros Packer said at the start of last year that the Crown Sydney project was something “very, very close” to her son’s heart and described it as a gift to the Harbour City.

“He feels that as a family, this is something we are giving to Sydney,” she said during her first visit to the Barangaroo project.

When it came to appearing at the WA royal commission on Friday, he dialled via video conference from his polo ranch, Ellerstina, about one hour’s drive from Buenos Aires, Argentina — a world away from Australia and the probes into Crown, in which he still holds a 37 per cent stake. Ms Cahill was eager to pin him down on the undertakings his Consolidated Press Holdings had given WA gaming regulators that it would seek to influence Crown — and she did not stop at the piece of paper the agreement was written on.

“Have you taken or are you intending to take any practical steps to ensure that you are abiding by the undertaking?” she asked after almost two-and-a-half hours of questioning.

Mr Packer replied: “I‘m not sure what practical steps we could or should take beyond what we’ve done. If there are additional steps we should take to give comfort I’m sure we’d be open to that”.

Ms Cahill pounced on Mr Packer’s personal relationships as a way he could possibly breach the undertaking.

“For example Mr Packer, are you positively refraining from meeting for social purposes with former colleagues and friends who remain involved in Crown’s business.”

Mr Packer replied immediately: “I have so far”, while sitting by himself in a cream painted room, with wooden sideboard in the background, at his South American ranch.

But Ms Cahill highlighted contact Mr Packer said he had with Crown executive Todd Nisbet in June this year over the purchase of his Barangaroo apartment.

“Do you think that if you do occupy that apartment there‘ll be any practical steps you need to take to make sure that you abide by your undertakings?

Mr Packer replied that if he did not believe so, “but if the commission disagrees then I’m happy to look at it”.

Ms Cahill then repeated her question for a third and final time. “What I’m driving at here Mr Packer is whether you need to think about practice steps to prevent incidental contact and an inadvertent breach.”

After a 17-second pause, Mr Packer replied that he will “leave that” to his lawyers, having stated several times during the hearing that he was not a lawyer and “struggles with legalese”.