Hey Trish,

Seems you have used someone else's celebrity to boost your article. Isn't that sort of thing exactly what you are criticizing the public and rest of the media for? People in glass houses....

In relation to people being entertained by Channel 9, come on Trish. As you wrote most of what's on free to air commercial tv is tripe and people know it. They are stuck between still trying to believe that free to air should provide quality and competition but it's mostly infommercials dressed up as "shows". Channel 10 don't even pretend late night to early morning.

It's about forcing people to pay TV and there really isn't a choice if people want to watch TV is there? Channel 9 has killed live broadcasts of sport, not developed it.

Those that are lauding Packer for bringing cricket to the people obviously don't recall it was free to air, full game, when the ABC last had it. It still is on ABC radio where all games are covered, live. In the current Test between Aus and SAfrica the early start has been ignored in deference to " Here's Humphrey ". So anyone watching misses the first half hour as Humphrey is more important ( I don't argue that he isn't really ).

Anyone seen a live NRL match on 9 in recent years? Excepting Grand Finals and State of Origin that is. Even pay tv can't broadcast any games until Channel 9 have refused to show them. If 9 is covering a game with their delayed telecasts then pay tv cannot replay the game until 9 has. The same will apply to Aussie Rules if 9 get the rights to that as well. How will they cover both sports? Replays is the only answer. Replays. What absolute rubbish.

Reply to Realist. Part one.
Well I suppose you could be forgiven for being so badly misinformed, considering you probably got all your facts from reading HIS papers. However the TRUTH is very different. I will give you one example that I was personally involved in OK. Good old Aussie farmer wanted to purchase an abattoir in NSW. He applied for a grant of 500 thousand dollars ONLY having the rest himself. No grants available the farmer was told. Three weeks later with Packers assistance a Japanese company was given 40 million dollars by way of a grant for the SAME abattoir. The Government actually has a clause [known as the Packer clause] re this Industry. As for feed lots well now you are talking. If you claim to know anything at all about livestock you would have to be aware that intensive farming is the cause of diseases. This includes bird flu, foot and mouth etc.
I could even tell you when the first case of foot and mouth came to this country and where it came from. In those days they just blocked off the whole area and this was known as the cow paddocks in Sydney. There were very strict penalties for anybody caught slaughtering these animals. If you take ANY ANIMAL and put him on a ship leaving Australia you take him in his most valuable form. You take the wool on his back and those jobs, the hides, and those jobs for tanneries and the by-products that you produce your small goods from. Not to mention the meat itself and those jobs. A similar competitive scenario has developed between feed lotters and live exporters at the level of supply. Over the last decade in particular, the phenomenal rise of the cattle trade into Asia and the Middle East.
How many more abattoirs have to shut down and how many more workers have to lose their jobs before it is realized that more than just live stock is being sacrificed to the live export trade? We intend to introduce share abattoirs and farms throughout Australia.

Wendy, there's no point in responding to Realist - he is a 24 year-old Real Estate agent from Queensland (aren't you, Glen?). He equates success with money, and believes that every true Australian should do the same. He also assumes that if you don't agree with him, you must be a) poor and b) therefore by definition, a loser. He isn't worth the keyboard effort.

Ozone - nice summary. One of the really horrifying aspects of the post-mortem adulation has been the efforts by Packer's hagiographers to attribute to him some form of sense of humour. The examples were uniformly lame (tripping up an underling who disagreed with him at a function, and laughing "for several minutes") that they could have been ironic. But weren't.

You have to feel very sad for a man who has gone through life with more money than he could throw across the world's gambling tables, but lacked a sense of humour.

Pericles,

Thanks for the ambush and the big wrap. i am not a real estate agent by the way, as much as it pleases you to think that.

I wont mention my thoughts on you as you are after a slinging match. Any prudent reader will see the inadequacies you see in yourself behind your words.

I sympathise with you Wendy. It is taking jobs from (often) the bush. As with feed lots, i apologise i write fast and forgot the question mark on the end of the feed lot sentance. feed lots are just as bad was my point. FYI i am from the bush Wendy, from an abbotoirs town in fact, but its not just the cattle industry suffering decline, it is most primary industries so at least he innovates and keeps the numbers up.

What about the jobs created via this exporting? i wont rattle off, but the glass can be half full.

He may have been a bad man in your eyes, but he has shown many others how to make the most of a primary industry by steering away from the conventional. if he has ruined you, i am sorry, but take your blinkers off and i am sure you have a world of opportunities.

Scald me for this, especially you pericles. The person who's kids 'will work until they drop' due to the pessimistic attitude ingrained in them due to their parent not having the strengh to achieve. i still hope your kids do achieve pericles, they deserve it.

Pericles,

One further point. My transperancy it with my age etc should not be used as a tool for you to attack me with. You are very liberal with your words under the mask of anonymity as i have said to you many times.

I never mentioned my name to you from memory, i was wondering where you retrieved it from? it disturbs me that you are crossing the line by doing this.

Now, you know i am a determined little fellow arnt i? If i was to conversely start to look for you, as your cowardess and lack of anything will mean you will never reveal who you are, you know that i could find you very quickly.

Dont cross the line, you have crossed the line on occasions and i have warned you my patience is waivering, if i recieve attacks like that again, with personal information i did not reveal attached, i will turn my attention to you.

Final warning. You dont take the polite ones. Let this one sink in.

gee your so brave trish having a go at someone when their pushing up the daisys.......they cant respond anymore.

i would take notice of you if you had the balls to get stuck into big kerry when he was alive.