Crown | Crikey

STEPHEN MAYNE | COMPANIES|

Media cuddles up to Packer with few hard questions

James Packer is getting a dream run from the media on his plans for a Sydney casino. Why isn’t anyone asking harder questions about his strategy?

JAMES THOMSON | COMPANIES|

‘Fuck, this must be a good business’: Packer on casinos, Kerry

James Packer has won over NSW politicians with his plan for a massive new casino and hotel development in Sydney. Last night he was sharing more of himself than ever.

STEPHEN MAYNE | AUSTRALIA|

For sheer audacity, nothing surpasses Packer’s casino play

For sheer audacity, nothing compares with James Packer’s extraordinary decision to requisition an EGM of Echo Entertainment group shareholders to remove John Story and install his old mate Jeff Kennett.

BERNARD KEANE | COMPANIES|

There’s no stopping Karl, competence or not

Karl Bitar seems to have made it his life’s work to symbolise the decline of the Australian Labor Party. Spinning for Crown says more about the party than the man.

Bitar Crowns our gambling dependence

The fact that Karl Bitar has transitioned seamlessly from running the Labor Party to become lobbyist-in-chief for James Packer’s gambling operations is a smack in the face for the integrity of the political system.

TOM COWIE | BUSINESS|

Foster’s super premium brew not so super

Laboratory tests have revealed that Foster’s super premium $90-a-bottle beer has been found to contain brettanomyces, an unwanted yeast characteristic which an expert has described tastes like a “dry stable”.

STEPHEN MAYNE | PLAYERS|

Expansive James Packer goes the full half hour

The man who used to like two-minute chairman addresses went on for half-an-hour at yesterday’s Crown AGM, boasting of PBL’s recent performance and making some pre-emptive attacks against the anti-pokies lobby.

STEPHEN MAYNE | COMPANIES|

Fourteen more join the billion dollar loss club

The numbers are in and it’s now official: 2008-09 was the worst profit season in Australian history. Who would have ever thought 14 different companies could lose more than $1 billion in a single financial year?

GLENN DYER | PLAYERS|

James still stuck in Kerry’s shadow

For most of his life, Kerry Packer had a reputation for being a bit of a Midas when it came to investing. Shame his son James Packer didn’t inherit the same touch.

JAMES THOMSON | PLAYERS|

James Packer’s giant spring clean out

James Packer appears to be in the middle of a personal and professional cleanout, sparked in part by the global financial crisis. He’s flogged off his horses, boat and stake in Seek, the online classifieds company.

BUSINESS|