Kerry Packer umm. Well i guess you would have to feel sorry for his family considering the legacy left to them. Packer mananged to keep the cruelty of his doing quite regarding live exports for years along with the other media gaint Mr M.
For his family i feel their loss of a Dad and understanding having just lost my own Dad. The pride at what he acheived through his bullying and disregard for basic compashion replaced by the old power trip.Many Country Towns have closed through the purchase of abattoirs. He employed the very grateful locals only to close them later and re divert to live exports.
Some friend of the Ausie farmer hay! I dont think so. The average farmer does not get involved in trade and make the pertinant enquirys to cover himself or herself. However Packer did. He and his buddy Howard along with the nationals have conned the best blokes of our country long enough. Tax dodges by running abattoirs at a loss then diverting to live exports>. Then used OUR tax money to peddle THEIR cruelty Shame on HIM AND the Goverment!What good is money without pride and who can be proud of making millions out of the suffering of Animals and the loss of Ausie jobs?I feel sorry for his family because as the years go by the truth will be known more and more about this sO CALLED Hero.it is to be hoped that James Packer can have the goodwill to convet these poor animals to be slaughtered here and give us our jobs back. He has a big job to do but something tells me we are in better hands with James than we were before. Mean time we can only grieve for the family personally as we all know what is like to loose a loved one and i wish James and his family wisdom and compashion!

I know nothing of Packer: I suspect few do; and those that know something probably do not know as much as they think.
It is always hard to find the measure of a man but if his legacy has anything to do with broadcasting Bolton is not far from the mark. Free to air television is slowly becoming a thing of the past; with the exception of the ABC abd SBS - whether they be captives of the left or not - demonstrate a commitment ot quality broadcasting and innovative production.

Boltons characteristion of Free to air product is as accurate as it is depressing.

The most interesting thing to look out for is what young James does with the network - he is apparently not as commited to Television as was his father - no doubt their will be wild jockying for position under the new leadership witihn the ranks of senior management and the "star" system to curry favour with the new regime.

It started when the Nine cricket commentators waxed lyrical about the old boss passing on - more interesting than the cricket itself I must say.

The publishing axiom of giving peolpe what they want might make for a helathy bottom line but it sure falls short of the mark when you look to commercial television for some degree of window to the world - unless of course you are fascinated by youngster falling flat on their faces from bicycles or hapless dads taking a shot to the groin in a back yard cricket match - ( or more likely baseball as most of the footage is sourced from the US ) - which it seems is what we crave- along with fad diets, expose's of shonky builders and who got pissed at the logies this year.

Kerry Packer was a hard nosed arrogant man, but when you are in his position you have to be....simple.

And as for your live animal export crap, good on him for doing so, he is allowed to be entreprenurial and to capture emerging trends.

You do not know much about the bush by the sounds, packer has achieved great things for the cattle industry. There are usfficient abbotoirs around, and sufficient Jobs in the industry. Go to Rockhampton, Dinmore or Inverell and you will get work immediately.

He contributed to the economy and ensured that our cattle industry did not rot in the dark ages. For farming to be successful in this day and age, economies of scale must be achieved and new markets must be introduced to improve demand for the product.

Those poor animals? you have not mentioned the feed lots that produce most of your abbotoir animals. That is humane though. That is the industry.

When you have a wealth base so large, it is easy to loose it. many people have. You should applaud him not only for protecting his family's interests, but making a positive impact on Australia and increasing his wealth doing it.

Look at the lives he has changed with cricket, the jobs he has created, the products he has created, look at the innovations he has overseen, The cattle industry is much healthier now thanks to Kerry.

An arrogant man yes, but like a true Aussie, he looks after many and stood by his mates and his country.

RIP

What dribble to say "So but like a true Aussie, he looks after many and stood by his mates and his country." To quote the Age of 28 December, "reputedly the nation's greatest tax minimiser — and proud of it."
On a billion dollars of income, where the ATO sought a modest $40million in 1998, hey that's just FOUR percent, by placing his businesses overseas, settled with the ATO for just $30.55 and earned according to the Age, $370 million tax free. Is this a guy "who stood by his mates and country"?

And hey, who was the Goanna?

It's time our taxation system became more equitable, not just aimed at the majority of wages and salaries earners, but those using family trusts, Bahamas and other fiddles.

I suggest good Ausies are those that put a little back into the country and really take care of the mates, not exploit the loopholes and fiddles with a little guilt based facading.

What world are you living in?

Many of those blokes with balls today are sheilas.

Traditional media outlets today are experiencing falling circulation.
The older readers are a dying breed and younger people haven't time. Although the trend has been held back in Sydney and Melbourne with the introduction of the tabloid type newspaper, but time will tell.

Kerry Packer's piddling 7 billion for a life times effort is nothing compared to the billions wasted each year by our Govts,yet we focus on a few rich people who create the wealth that can be taxed and thus wasted on Colins Class Submarines,welfare fraud,and Govt bureaucracies.Time for some perspective.

While Kerry rightfully didn't pay more tax than was legally due,the spin offs from his enterprises certainly did.