Kerry Packer Dead

[Canteen Worker]

Just heard on the Radio that Kerry Packer has passed away. I wonder what impact this will have on the TV showing of League as it is well known that his son and other PBL execs are not as passionate about Channel 9 and sport?

 

[Guest]

Any one with shares in Consolidated press should have sold them last week because they will take a dive now that James is in charge.

 

[Matabele]

He's a hard man to mourn isn't he?

Anyways, round about now he'll be regretting his little statement about having seen the beyond and claiming noone was f...... there."

 

[Corso_Pete]

I think his actual quote after being clinically dead for a few minutes at that polo match was something along the lines of "there is good news and bad news, the good news is theere is no devil, the bad news is there no heaven either".

Whatever the views that will be expressed about Packer over the ensuing days he changed the way we viewed sports in this country. He had a geniune love of most sports and it showed when it came to the way the Nine network televised sport. They were nearly always the first to introduce new technolgy into sports broadcasting and I have no doubt that was because Packer had a genuine love of owning a network that broadcast world quality sport.

I read a story recently about the super slow motion camera that is currently being used in cricket broadcasting, Packer blew up when he saw it being used in England, why because the Nine Network wasn't using the technology, Packer rang a Nine executive and asked why, the answer came back "because the camera's cost a million dollars each". In typical Packer fashion the answer came roaring back to the Nine exec, good go and buy 6 of the buggers!. To me that summed up Packer, he would spare no expense to ensure the highest quality broadcast for its viewers.

Vale, Kerry Packer.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Pete makes a good point about 9 taking the lead in most things, though the advent of night grand finals and 9 controlling the choice of Friday night games and the draw is too much for me and gives them too much power.

Mata makes a good point though in that you can't take it with you and at some point we have to face up to the fact that we are not immortal.

 

[Canteen Worker]

I think his actual quote after being clinically dead for a few minutes at that polo match was something along the lines of \"there is good news and bad news, the good news is theere is no devil, the bad news is there no heaven either\".

From Today's Herald:

I've been to the other side, and let me tell you son, there's nothing there." - In 1990 after his heart stopped while playing polo.

 

[Matabele]

Put it this way, I'd rather the legacy I will leave my children than what he has left.

 

[Corso_Pete]

I suspect being born a Packer is much like being born a Murdoch, a Gates or Royalty. But all accounts James & Gretel have had a more balanced upbringing than Kerry did. It would have been easy for him to dump them into boarding schools and see them only for a few weeks each year, but this he didn't (well not at least until they were much older).

James, by all reports is a successful businessman in his own right, albeit with the weight of Kerry only a step behind should he ever need back up. From my reading Gretel is a well adjusted individual, who like her mother shuns the limelight.

We all hope and try to leave our children with a good education, the ability to show love and compassion and hopefully the ambition to succeed in their lifes adventure.

Who is to say that Kerry Packer did not leave this legacy to his children?

 

[Matabele]

My children will be taught that money is not the be all and end all. In fact, they'll be taught to hate it, though not the good it can achieve if used wisely.

They will also be taught just how reprehensible it is to wager $55million on horse races in a day.

 

[Corso_Pete]

What did you expect the Packer family do with their money? give it away!. It may be your wish to give the money to less fortunate but that may not be the choice of many others. Packer was a philanthropist and apparently gave millions to charity without any fanfare.

As for the $5M bet you talk of, please answer me this question. Which is the biggest wager? a) the person that has no money in the bank, 2 kids and a wife to feed and bets his very last $100.00 on a race with the knowledge that if his horse loses he will not be able to feed his family or pay the rent or b) Packers $5m bet?

For me the answer is a)

I understand your view point, but to teach your children to hate money is a big statement. Teaching your children to hate anything reeks of bigotry. By all means give them the pros & cons of money. But hate is such a strong word and as a parent it is a word I word Iwould never use in front of my children, even when Manly play Parramatta.

 

[Guest]

There was another side to Packer that no-one saw because he didn't want to publicise it in any way.

He helped many people out when they were in trouble financially including a number of his employees who contracted MS for example.

For many years he has allowed the use of his personal plane free of charge to transport organs for organ transplants anywhere in Australia.

He also donated at least $20m pa to RPA hospital and many millions more to the childrens hospital. He hated the opera and other formal events but loved football and cricket and was at home talking about the sports.

He was probably more like us than any other wealthy individual in Australia and gave more to the needy than all of the others put together.

 

[Fluffy]

Ill just say its easier to give to the needy when you have more and its virtually free through tax breaks etc - Bill Gates is the biggest giver to charity in the world, however its best he does it than doesnt.

im neither here nor there on this one, he was jsut a succesful businass man.

 

[Canteen Worker]

I suppose the bottom line is that you can't take your wealth with you - though it may bring enjoyment etc for our three score and ten years on earth.

We can also have an influence that will last beyong us on our family, kids and friends - with our money, time and values, friendship etc


The other issue is that big question that much of us will avoid and that is what happens when we finally do finish our time on earth????

 

[Matabele]

What Packer gave away in philanthropy (and received priceless publicity for) is only a fraction of a percentage of his overall wealth.

The average Aussie gives far more on a per capita basis and doesn't expect the plaudits for it either.

 

[Matabele]

im neither here nor there on this one, he was jsut a succesful businass man.

What is the measure of your success?

Wealth?

Given the power the man's business interests had on this nation, and how they have been used, I would say he was FAR from succesful if we're to consider a holistic approach.

 

[CliffyIsGod]

And Kerry expected plaudits for it?

 

[Matabele]

Why do you think we know about it, and why do you think his TV channel keep carrying on about it?

Out of a desire for silence? Puhleeeeeeeeese!

 

[Matabele]

Does this sound familiar?

In this city I confess
I am driven to possess
Answer no one, let them guess
Are you someone I impress?

I am a big boss with a short fuse
I have a nylon carpet and rubber shoes
And when I shake hands, you'll get a big shock
You'll be begging for mercy when the champ is through
You better believe I'll put my clamps on you

In this city, be assured
Some will rise above the herd
Feed the fatted, leave the rest
This is how we won the west

I am a safebox, I am the inner sanctum when the door locks
I hold the passkey
You say you can't take it with you?
We'll see about that won't we?
push....push....push

In the city, I confess
God is mammon, more is less
Off like lemmings at the gun
I know better, still I run

I am an old man
and the word came
But you can't buy time or a good name
Now when the heirs come around
Like buzzards on a kill
I see my reflection in their envious eyes,
I'd watch it all burn to buy another sunrise

Some men find the fire escape
Old men learn it all too late
push....push....push the alarm
Old MacDonald's bought the farm

 

[Corso_Pete]

What Packer gave away in philanthropy (and received priceless publicity for) is only a fraction of a percentage of his overall wealth.

The average Aussie gives far more on a per capita basis and doesn't expect the plaudits for it either.

Do you know what he gave away? If so then your comments have validity, if not & you are just speculating then your commets should be treated as such.

I cannot recall a bad story about Packer, he was certainly a ruthless businessman & a bully who would not give an inch and expected nothing more than perfection from his staff, but you do not become the wealthiest man in Australia for being a soft touch. I have no problems with him being a ruthless business person who would bully lesser men to gain his way.

In relation to your comments to him not being succesful in an holistic sense simply depends on what criteria you use to judge a person. What is important to you maybe not have relevance to the next man. You are passing your opinion, but that is just what it is, just your opinion, it is not neccessarily the facts. If it is I would be pleased to hear and read your reference material.

 

[ManlyBacker]

I am sorry about his passing. Tough uncompromising bastard - yes. But I feel I have (had) more in common with him than most other of this county's big shots. He liked a punt and that is the aussie way (recent blow-ins just don't get it!), he was loyal to those who had been loyal, and he made decisions that risked a hell of a lot and that is what the world is built on. Vale Kerry.

As for attitudes to money - Mata, maybe you don't get how these types of people see it. The deals, the building of a business, the growth and making something tangible is what it is about. Money is just a nice way to keep score. For the really good ones it has nothing to do with getting wealthy, it is about the game/business/life and how it is played. That "camel through an eye of a needle" stuff is poor thinking IMO.