Packer emails: ‘I paid Costello $300k to be my secret lobbyist’

Peter Costello acted as an undisclosed Crown lobbyist working for James Packer, the billionaire alleges in private correspondence with the former treasurer.

Peter Costello acted as an undisclosed Crown lobbyist, working personally for James Packer as he attempted to get “closer” to the Victorian gaming minister, the billionaire businessman has ­alleged in private correspondence with the former federal treasurer.  

In the emails, Mr Packer accuses Mr Costello of hypocrisy and deceiving the Nine Entertainment board, which he chairs, about his time as a “secret Crown lobbyist” in 2011.

James Packer. Picture: Aaron Francis

“Your job was to get me closer to (then gaming minister) Michael O’Brien,” Mr Packer wrote to Mr Costello in July, adding he paid the Future Fund chairman $300,000 “to lobby for me, for Crown”.

The leaked emails – sent to Mr Costello and other Nine figures including publishing boss James Chessell, Today presenter Karl Stefanovic and Sun-Herald writer Peter FitzSimons, as well as investment banker Matthew Grounds – provide a glimpse into the fraught relationship between Mr Packer and Nine, the media conglomerate his family controlled for decades.

In the correspondence, Mr Packer also writes that:

● A 2019 report on Crown’s links with criminals and illegal business practices by The Age’s investigative writer Nick McKenzie was the “best story of the year” and McKenzie “definitely knew more about what was really happening at Crown than I did”.

● He hopes Chessell “has the balls to sue me (for defamation) so I can cross examine him on the stand … to ask and understand about all his communications with Peter Costello about Crown Unmasked and me in particular”.

● Costello “should resign from your public positions and get on with your life again after you do that … that’s my strong opinion Peter”.

 

The Australian has confirmed Mr Costello was not the registered lobbyist for Crown or Mr Packer’s private vehicle, Consolidated Press Holdings. The gaming group was represented by Strategic Advice Australia, a firm owned and operated by former Labor national secretary Karl Bitar.

Mr Costello, who joined the Nine board in 2013, was briefly listed as the owner of a registered lobbying firm, ECG Advisory Solutions, that year.

Mr O’Brien, who worked for Mr Costello for several years from 1999 when the latter was federal treasurer, said he had “met and was lobbied by a number of Crown executives”.

“Peter Costello has never lobbied me on behalf of Crown or any other business,” he added.

Peter Costello was accused of hypocrisy and deceiving the Nine Entertainment board. Picture: AAP/Dean Lewins

A Nine spokesman said: “Peter Costello was an adviser to CPH in 2011, for a year.”

Mr Packer, who received a windfall of $3.3bn for selling his 37 per cent stake in Crown to private equity firm Blackstone earlier this year, is expected to return to Australia after several years abroad.

In June, he told The Weekend Australian that he wanted to “rehabilitate his reputation” and return to public life after several years abroad. Mr Packer said he was the happiest he had been “in years” and was excited about starting “a meaningful and successful Act 3” of his life.

Crown had been the target of three state-based, royal commission-style inquiries over the past two years after revelations about money laundering in its casinos rocked the company.

Many of those issues were first raised by McKenzie in an investigative series, Crown Unmasked, published in 2019.

James Packer and Peter Costello. Picture: Stuart Mcevoy

That investigation found Crown had inappropriately close relationships with known criminal figures, including some with connections to drug importation, and had pressured Australian officials to fact-track visas for Chinese high-rollers through consulates in China.

Later inquiries – in Victoria, NSW and Western Australia – confirmed inappropriate conduct by Crown and imposed strict new rules on its operations, including delaying the opening of a new gaming floor in Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct until earlier this year.

In his July emails, Packer wrote: “For the record Crown unmasked was a great story and Nine should be very proud of Crown Unmasked. Well done to all involved. I mean that.”

“Great journalism in the best sense, and Nick McKenzie should definitely win the Gold Walkley Award for best journalist, best story of the year,” he added.

“I will always be ashamed that some of the bad things that happened at Crown happened on my watch. I regret all that a lot and am trying to do better in my Act 3. Nick McKenzie definitely knew more about what was really happening at Crown than I did. My bad obviously and I have deep regret about my shortcomings as Crown chairman.”

But Mr Packer is highly critical of other Nine figures, including Chessell, writing: “I’d love it if JC has the balls to sue me so I can cross examine him on the stand with my QC’s (sic), and be to ask (sic) and understand about all his communications with Peter Costello about Crown Unmasked and me in particular. Lots of other questions for JC from my lawyers too no doubt about how JC runs the papers he runs for Nine Newspapers.”

James Chessell. Picture: Getty Images

“FYI everybody, I trust EVERYONE on this email chain EXCEPT James Chessell, who I think lacks transparency, lacks integrity, and lacks character.”

In another email, after accusing Mr Costello of secretly lobbying for him, Mr Packer writes: “Peter pls feel free to sue me if you think I’ve unfairly defamed you … I’m proud of my history.”

On Sunday, Chessell said: “We have received repeated complaints about our coverage from Mr Packer but it has not affected our independence or our ­accuracy.”

Mr Packer severed his links with Nine in 2007. The company acquired Fairfax Media – the publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age – in 2018.

In yet another email to Mr Costello and Chessell, he writes: “James, for the record … you remind me of your chairman Costello … I think, know, you both lack transparency, integrity, and character.”

“I have nothing but contempt for you James. I think you’re spineless and weak, and I will be telling everyone my truths about you, just to manage your expectations. Always,” he writes.

“Pls do not contact me again unless it’s with a law suit, which I would relish just fyi f … off out of my life and thanks again for Crown Unmasked.

“After I got through it, it has liberated me and I’m so grateful for that.”