James Packer’s fortune stays within the clan

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The carve-up of the multi-billion-dollar Packer empire between siblings James and Gretel, revealed this weekend by the Oz, marks the sundering of what have become increasingly distinct family lines.

But like all things Packer there are always complications.

Not part of the deal is patriarch Kerry’s companion Julie Trethowan, with whom the mogul spent some of his final days at the end of 2005.

Packer took care of her in his will, itself a mysterious object, and she remains a presence.

Melbourne-born Trethowan, who had been close to Packer for 20 years and ran his Hyde Park Club at the base of his 54 Park Street headquarters, was left $10 million in assets including a home in Sydney’s Whale Beach.

She is still a director of companies associated with Packer, including Ledino and Galobo, and still lists her address as the harbourside Toft Monks building in Elizabeth Bay where Packer kept a penthouse apartment.

The rest of the Packer clan is getting on with juggling their various social commitments.

Both of Kerry’s children have been married and divorced twice and have three kids each. Gretel’s children are with her in her Bellevue Hill mansion, while Packer’s, all to model ex-wife Erica Baxter, now live with their mother in Los Angeles.

Packer’s first wife, model and fashion businesswoman Jodhi Meares, remains good friends and stepped out with James in Perth this weekend at the Lexus Ball in aid of the annual telethon put on by Kerry Stokes’s Seven.

She’s moved on from Jon Stevens and is now stepping out with much younger Melburnian artist/actor Nicholas Finn.

Stevens, who was kicked out of David Lowy’s band the Dead Daisies in March after being charged with assaulting Meares, has to actually work for a living.

The former Noiseworks singer cut his hand on the weekend but is still set is to play at Melbourne Irish pub on Sunday.

Luckily for his legion of ageing fans, posters touting the gig promise he’ll be on stage at 9pm “so it will be an early night”.

There seems little chance Meares will show.

Where there’s a will …

Speaking of Kerry’s will, on Friday, Rob Rankin, who is co-chairman of the listed Crown Resorts and CEO of private Consolidated Press Holdings, said the deal was consistent with this fabled document. Not that anyone can check against the text, because the will’s whereabouts are unknown.

Dad Sir Frank’s testament was filed with the NSW Supreme Court, but it seems the staff there have never laid eyes on Kerry’s.

Perhaps it’s in tax haven the Bahamas, where the family’s Consolidated Press International Holdings is based?

A timely thought as new PM Malcolm Turnbull defends his own investments in fellow Caribbean haven the Cayman Islands from Labor attack dog Sam Dastyari.

Big Kerry wasn’t afraid of expressing his opinion on tax, famously telling a parliamentary committee that “if anybody in this country doesn’t minimise their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be donating extra”.

These days, James lists himself as an Israeli resident, and thus presumably outside the grasp of ATO boss Chris Jordan.

Gretel is very much an Australian resident, but whether or not the deal crystallises a taxable capital gain or income is impossible to say.

And with parliament last week exempting tightly-held companies from new rules disclosing our top taxpayers, we may never find out.

Turnbull’s stakes

Recliner chairs, cancer sticks and US home mortgages — these are just some of the things stuffing Turnbull’s offshore funds.

The Cayman ones are largely black boxes, although we know one, Elbrook Offshore, has a minimum ante of $US1m and has so far garnered $US59.4m.

Turnbull’s easier-to-track US funds reveal a portfolio stuffed with tech and medical stocks.

He’s invested in three Grandeur Peak funds. For some reason it’s the fourth-biggest shareholder in Man Wah Holdings, a sofa maker listed in Hong Kong but registered in yet another tax haven, Bermuda.

On the gasper front, two of his funds hold shares in Japan Tobacco, which sells fag brands including the macho Camel.

There are also funds holding US home mortgage bundles put together by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

As icing on top, add stakes in tech companies including Apple, Microsoft and Facebook — the better to disrupt you with.

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