James Packer heads to Sydney, happy to wager on Crown casino future

James Packer reaffirms his commitment to Sydney’s $2.4bn Crown casino project ahead of a surprise visit.

James Packer and girlfriend Kylie Lim arrive at Los Angeles airport on Tuesday for a flight to Sydney. Picture: Clint Brewer / Backgrid

James Packer has publicly ­reaffirmed his commitment to the $2.4bn Sydney casino project being built by his company Crown Resorts, ahead of making a surprise visit to Sydney this week to tour the facility for the first time.

Mr Packer is scheduled to land at Sydney airport on Wednesday morning in his private jet from Los Angeles with girlfriend Kylie Lim by his side. He will visit Barangaroo before spending time with his mother, Ros Packer.

He and Ms Lim are also ­expected to visit friends in Melbourne before returning to the US, where Mr Packer, whose fortune is valued at $4.23bn on The Australian’s “The List” of the ­nation’s 250 richest people, has homes in Aspen and Los Angeles. He has spent much of the past year in the US recovering from his third nervous breakdown.

In an interview with The Australian ahead of his visit, he described the past year as one of “consolidation” following his shock declaration in March that he was battling mental health ­issues. This led him to resign from the board of Crown.

“2019 was a year of ups and downs, but overall it was a time of consolidation. Mostly I have been focusing on my kids and my health,’’ he said.

He spent the new year with his children, Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuel, at the Aspen home he jointly owns with their mother and his second wife, Erica Packer, after spending Christmas at the property with Ms Lim and friends.

Mr Packer will meet on Wednesday with Crown executive Todd Nisbet, who is overseeing the construction of the Crown Sydney project, and fellow Crown executive Peter Crinis, who is expected to run the property when it opens in the first half of next year.

He will also meet with executives of his private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, Crown executive chairman John Alexander and Crown directors.

“From a professional perspective, Crown Sydney remains my No 1 goal and seeing it rise floor by floor has been pleasing. The building has taken shape beautifully and is already becoming part of Sydney’s postcard landscape. It’s an exciting time,” Mr Packer said.

“Full credit to our building and development team — the vision we had for Crown Sydney is being brought to life and Sydneysiders will be very proud of what Crown delivers. “

Crown’s Sydney casino, left, under construction at Barangaroo.

In 2017, Mr Packer paid $60m to purchase two floors of the Crown Sydney apartment tower, which will be his Australian home when the property opens. The NSW and Victorian gaming regulators and the Commonwealth Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission are currently conducting inquiries into Crown following media reports last year detailing sensational allegations of the casino group’s links to organised crime.

The NSW regulator, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, will also on January 21 commence unprecedented public hearings to consider whether CPH’s proposed $1.76bn sale of ­almost 20 per cent of Crown to Hong Kong billionaire Lawrence Ho’s Melco Group can proceed.

The deal was first struck in May and half the shares were transferred to Mr Ho in June, but the balance of the deal has been suspended until all regulators complete their investigations and there are no adverse findings against Mr Ho, Melco or Crown.

ILGA is specifically examining Lawrence Ho’s suitability to be a shareholder in Crown following revelations in the NSW parliament of the gaming scion’s ongoing ties to his father, Stanley, who is banned from being licensed to run a casino in Australia ­because of his alleged links to ­organised crime.

The inquiry is being led by former NSW Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin. Mr Packer said: “The next 12 months will be challenging as we get closer to the opening of Crown Sydney; we have some issues that need to be resolved, but I am confident that Crown will deliver something truly spectacular for the city.”

There is ongoing speculation Mr Packer will be asked to appear in person before the NSW inquiry.

“If I am requested to appear, then I will absolutely make myself available,” he said.

The visit to Sydney will be Mr Packer’s first overnight stay in the city he declared in the biography The Price of Fortune that he was “scared” of, since he left in 2012. Last year, he returned to Australia for the first time in 14 months but only briefly ­visited Sydney before returning to Melbourne where he based himself in the chairman’s villa at Crown’s ­casino complex.

He said in The Price of Fortune: “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.”

But he added that Crown Sydney “is the thing that will draw me back to the city”.

On Monday, Crown Resorts and the Packer family foundations increased their financial support of bushfire fighting services and community support efforts to $5m. After the Packer Family Foundation pledged $1m to the Rural Fire Service of NSW following the outbreak of the fires in Nov­ember, the extra $4m will be spent to support volunteer fire services in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. In the middle of last year, as he battled a mental health crisis, Mr Packer resigned from 22 directorships in Australia, including CPH. However, he remains director of the Bahamas-registered Consolidated Press International Holdings, the ultimate parent company of the CPH group.

Mr Packer spent the second half of the European summer on his 108m yacht, named IJE in honour of his children. It was built by the Benetti shipbuilders over six years at a cost of $170m.

Damon Kitney is the author of the James Packer biography, The Price of Fortune, which will be reprinted in paperback by HarperCollins Publishers.