Return To Main MenuPacker has solid support among the powerful Victorian Liberals establishment. His partners in the Melbourne casino are the federal treasurer of Liberal Party Ron Walker and his colleague Lloyd Williams, both good friends of Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett.
Jeff Kennett (Victorian Premier) 20 February 1997: "The only thing that I get embarrassed about, is this patheticness (sic) of The Age and the ABC." Mr Kennett is all for Fairfax changing hands. He despises the Melbourne Age. He has told friends that on the day Packer takes over, he will be at The Age handing out pink dismissal slips to journalists.
Packer is now paying the Liberals’ former Victorian President Michael Kroger to lobby colleagues like Peter Costello and Communications Minister Richard Alston on his behalf.
A former senior figure in the Liberal Party has told Four Corners that he was approached last year by someone representing Communications Minister Richard Alston. He said they wanted advice on who should be appointed to run the Government’s inquiry. Our source, himself a former Minister, said Senator Alston’s advisers told him they needed people with good credentials in the media industry who would be sympathetic to Kerry Packer.
A spokesman for Senator Alston says this claim is absolutely untrue. The Government’s promise of an public inquiry into media rules was abandoned last year in favour of an internal review by Senator Alston’s Department. It is due out in the next few weeks.
If it goes Packer’s way, his vast media empire may soon include Australia’s finest newspapers.
Unidentified journalist to Kerry Packer: "There has been a bit of criticism of the 42 minutes show on Sunday nights, would you…"
Kerry Packer: "Who has it been by, you?"
Journalist: "It’s me among…"
Kerry Packer: "Well, when you get a television station we’ll take notice of what you say."
It’s almost as though Packer just can’t lose. The winning streak that won him the Sydney Casino and a windfall from the ANI deal shows no sign of ending as the next context looms. If the odds stay with him, then Australian politicians will once again find a way to reconcile self-interest, the public’s interest and the interests of Kerry Packer.
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