‘I hope he sues’: Packer attacks ex-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews

Billionaire businessman James Packer has accused casino regulators of trying to bankrupt the sector, and former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews of “being my least favourite person”, in a scathing assessment of the industry he once dominated through his ownership in Crown Resorts.

In an interview with Rampart, Packer also took aim at NSW Independent Casino Commission chief Philip Crawford, the chairman of Liquor and Gaming NSW when issues arose inside Crown’s rival, Star Entertainment.

Crawford delayed the opening of Crown’s flagship Sydney casino in mid-2019, shortly after an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the casino group had been used by international criminal syndicates and money launderers. By early 2020, he had appointed Patricia Bergin to assess whether the Crown was suitable to hold a licence in NSW. He did not investigate Star until October 2021.

“It’s one of the miracles of life that Philip Crawford’s got a job,” said Packer. “Star was operating under Philip Crawford’s watch. Because of the [Bergin inquiry] in NSW, all the regulators in Victoria lost their jobs and all the regulators in Western Australia lost their jobs.

“Star was behaving far worse than Crown ever behaved, and that’s been proven out by the fact that [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission] never laid any charges. Star’s got charges from ASIC up the wazoo. I’m not saying we didn’t make mistakes, but Star was worse than us, and Star’s operating under Philip Crawford’s nose.”

Packer was the majority owner of Crown, the operator of casinos in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, until it was bought by Blackstone in 2022 for $8.9 billion. The sale was the result of several state government inquiries that found Crown had facilitated money laundering inside its precincts and that ultimately deemed Packer unfit to hold a casino licence.

The timing of the sale ultimately worked well for Packer as Crown’s profitability has declined under Blackstone’s ownership due to regulatory sanctions and a sharp downturn in business from Chinese high rollers.

Crawford has denied that he did not do his job properly before the inquiry.

“They went to great lengths to hide stuff from us and tell things that were not true,” he said last year.

“I’m not going to be lined up about the fact that we didn’t do our job at the time. Some people have tried to raise that – it’s total crap.”

Packer also told Rampart’s Joe Aston, whom he considers a close friend, that Andrews had ruined his life when he decided to backflip on planned tax rates in Victoria in the middle of a takeover by Blackstone.

In 2015, Crown had agreed to a new tax regime that involved lifting rates for pokies and reducing rates for the junket business. It included a provision in the licences that said if the tax rates were to change, the government would pay 12 times earnings before tax and interest on the reduction in profit as compensation.

A few years later, Packer was subject to three separate government inquiries and was told by the Victorian regulators he would need to sell his stake in Crown as he was not suitable to hold a casino licence.

“Daniel Andrews is about my least favourite person in the world. I think Daniel Andrews not only ruined Victoria, he almost ruined my life,” he said.

“With three weeks to go [on the sale to Blackstone] f---ing Daniel Andrews changes the tax rates on Crown and rips 50 million of [earnings before interest and tax] out of Crown and gives no compensation.

“It’s a miracle that Blackstone didn’t activate the material adverse change clause. I thought that was appalling behaviour. I’m looking forward to seeing Daniel Andrews in person and speaking far more aggressively than I am,” said Packer.

“What he’s done to the balance sheet of Victoria is impossible to fix … I couldn’t speak more lowly of Daniel Andrews. I think he’s human filth … I hope he sues me”.

When the accusations about the Crown’s misconduct first surfaced in 2019, the company’s response under then-executive chairman John Alexander was to go on the attack. It paid for advertising in News Corp publications, including The Australian and the Herald Sun, criticising the investigation.

Asked whether Crown’s decision to put ads in the paper was a mistake, Packer said: “The management that was in Crown were management that had their positions because I’d put them there. At the end of the day, it’s my fault. On that particular instance, I suppose all I could say is I was given assurances, and those assurances ended up being incorrect.”

Packer has not been involved in the Australian casino industry since he officially sold his position in Crown in 2022. Since then, various state governments have introduced strict regulatory measures to minimise the risk of money laundering inside the precincts, including the introduction of cash limits and the use of mandatory identification cards inside precincts.

The chief executives of Star and Crown have urged the introduction of new measures amid concerns that illegal activity has shifted to pubs and clubs.

“I think it’s outrageous what’s happening to the casinos in Australia. The pubs and the clubs are booming,” said Packer.

“Casino operators pay hundreds of millions of dollars to get their licences in the first place … to differentiate themselves from the clubs and the pubs. Now you have a situation where cash can’t be used in the casinos, and cash is used in the pubs and the clubs.

“It’s as though they’re trying to bankrupt the businesses, and at the same time, the pubs and the clubs are flourishing.

“I certainly wouldn’t be sitting on the boat with you here if I didn’t get out.”