Kerry Packer Dead

[Guest]

Who is it written by (and is it unauthorised or authorised?)

It was an unathorised biography and was written by Paul barry who was working at the ABC at the time. Quite a interesting read although I no longer have the book as someone borrowed it and never returned it.

Packer is said to have threatened to sue barry for everything he had as a result of the book and I believe that packer did in fact sue some people who contributed to it.

One of the reasons that he kept his donations private is that if people knew that he had donated $10m to the RPA hospital then many people would have been critical of him and said why didn't he dontate $20m. In other words what he donated would have never been enough unless he donated every cent that he owned.

I have personal knowledge of two of his generous donations. The fact that for many many years Packer has allowed the NSW hospital system free use of his personal plane and pilots at anytime to transfer organs to prople waiting for organ donation was told to me by a police officer whose section is involved in arranging escorts for organ transplants.

The second involved the town of Gundy in the Hunter valley which is the closest town to where Packers ellerston property is. Quite a few years ago the town started fund raising so that they could build a public swimming pool in the town.

A lot of the staff that worked at Packers property come from gundy and when he heard of the fund raising he simply asked how much was required for the pool and wrote a cheque on the spot for several hundred thousand dollars to enable to pool to be built. I know this because my wifes parents used to own the adjoining property to Ellerstone for many years and knew a lot of the workers there.

I also know several people, who previously worked at channel 9 and they say that he was a fearsome person when annoyed but he was also a caring person and the Xmas hampers that he gives to all staff for years are lengendry.

No doubt he was arrogant and far from the perfect person but he was certainly not as bad as some people make him out to be. Sure he has probably always done most things in order to increase his wealth but I have known other extremely wealthy people who are exactly the same.

One person I know in particular owns a large non bank lender and is said to be worth in excess of $1b. Yet he still works 6 days a week today even though he could have retired years ago. he is also one of the tightest persons that i know and wouldn't buy you a sandwich if he was buying his at the same time. he said to me that he is good at one thing and that is making money.

Wealthy people have a different mindset to us average folk. They can never own enough money and devlote their whole lives to making more and more even though that could not possibly spend what they already own in 10 lifetimes. I think if most of us come into $10m we would probably spend 6 months of the year travelling and the other 6 months watching our own personal football team - the sea eagles.

 

[Matabele]

Alright fellas - ya got me on this one I think.

RIP Mr Packer and may we meet in the hereafter.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Talking to people in the street and in business the Man certainly polarised people, with some mourning his loss and others not sorry about his passing at all. Maybe that is the measure of Packer. Some detest his avoidance of tax, were suspicous of the famous Goanna allegations of the Street Royal Commission whilst others admired him for being forthright and an 'alleged' philanthropist.

Bottom line is that most of us will never know the real measure of the man - and in the end much of the argument is pointless, though I do concur with Matablele on the values that I would like to leave with my children.

 

[The Wheel]

[quote author=Matabele]
Who is it written by (and is it unauthorised or authorised?)

Quite a interesting read although I no longer have the book as someone borrowed it and never returned it.
[/quote]

With mates likes yours tookey who needs enemies

 

[Guest]

[quote author=tookey]
[quote author=Matabele]
Who is it written by (and is it unauthorised or authorised?)

Quite a interesting read although I no longer have the book as someone borrowed it and never returned it.
[/quote]

With mates likes yours tookey who needs enemies

[/quote]

I just want to know why my mates take my books and cd's and don't return them but they never borrow my wife and kids?

 

[Matabele]

[quote author=The Wheel]
[quote author=tookey]
[quote author=Matabele]
Who is it written by (and is it unauthorised or authorised?)

Quite a interesting read although I no longer have the book as someone borrowed it and never returned it.
[/quote]

With mates likes yours tookey who needs enemies

[/quote]

I just want to know why my mates take my books and cd's and don't return them but they never borrow my wife and kids?
[/quote]
Because you keep your books and cds in better condition?

 

[Guest]

[quote author=tookey]
[quote author=The Wheel]
[quote author=tookey]
[quote author=Matabele]
Who is it written by (and is it unauthorised or authorised?)

Quite a interesting read although I no longer have the book as someone borrowed it and never returned it.
[/quote]

With mates likes yours tookey who needs enemies

[/quote]

I just want to know why my mates take my books and cd's and don't return them but they never borrow my wife and kids?
[/quote]
Because you keep your books and cds in better condition?
[/quote]

LOL. And my books and Cd's don't nag, whinge, constantly ask for more money or complain when I come home late pissed either.

 

[The Wheel]

No wonder nobody else wants them

 

[Guest]

No wonder nobody else wants them

And your wife is any different?

Time you had some children wheel (or is one already on the way?) so that you can experience another of lifes joys - especially when they get to 17 and 19.

 

[Matabele]

Girls or boys tookey?

I reckon with 3 boys I'm getting the nightmare years over early.

 

[Guest]

2 boys Mata.

I really cannot complain about them because they are both really good. No drugs or drinking problems (they have seen what excess alcohol over many years has done to their their father) and they have both done well at school.

It is just the usual stress of HSC exams (one down and one more to go next year), uni, cars etc that wear us out and take a toll on our bank account.

I just can't wait for wheel to have kids so that he can then know what life is really all about.

 

[Corso_Pete]

Matabele, that is spoken with the all the innocence of one who is yet to experience the joys of adolescent children.

You have yet to experience the joy of your 15 year old telling you that they know all they will ever need to know and that continuing at school is simply a waste of time and money.

The sheer terror experienced by a father when he comes face to face with his daughter’s sexuality when she asks would it be OK for her boyfriend to stay the night in our home……………in her room

The fear you feel when your 16 year old daughter is learning to drive and coming to grips with the fact that no matter how hard you press your feet against the firewall of the car floor it does not in any way slow, let alone stop the progress of the motor vehicle she is attempting to drive.

The apprehension you feel when Miss 17, and proud holder of a “P” plate license for 24 hours asks to borrow fathers car whilst she goes to a friends place and then to realize those apprehensions less than 2 hours later when sitting a restaurant you receive that sickening phone call from Miss 17 that she has been involved in an accident.

Learning to understand that the arrival of the telephone bill each quarter will lead to talk of having calls to mobiles barred, listening to stories of why it is absolutely necessary for Miss 16 to ring each of 6 friends, on their mobiles 5 times in one evening and why a 36 minute call to a mobile telephone is considered an emergency.

The worry you experience at 1am as you lie awake waiting for Miss 19 to come home after a night out with friends and the sheer relief you feel at 1:05am as you hear the front door being opened and her tip toeing through the house so she will not wake anyone (if only they knew)

The feeling of helplessness as you watch them struggle with the pressure of exams and comforting them when their examination mark is not what they had hoped for.

The sadness you feel when Miss 21 finds out that the love of her life has also been dating another girl and that her life is now no longer worth living.

It is so much easier to be the parent of children under the age of 13, after they turn 14 or 15 you will need negotiation skills, a much bigger bank balance than you ever thought necessary, the skills of a counsellor, the ability to remain calm in a crisis, the realisation that your children, who have only ever told you that they love you can also tell you that they hate you when you refuse to let them have a telephone in their bedroom. Ah yes, the joys of being the parent of adolescent children.

Is it any wonder why we lose our hair, spend more time at work than is reasonable, drink more than is healthy for us and try to forget the woes of parenting by placing our faith and hopes of a Rugby League team every Sunday afternoon during winter.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Pete - brilliant and beautifully written. Most of your examples are close to home, though I agreed long ago that I wouldn't wait up for the kids.

This is around about where I am and it is no easy task. I have three girls, one who has just done her HSC and the other two in the early teens. Not a job for the half-hearted.

Those with boys - be very grateful. Part of my job is looking after a large group of boys for a lot of time - they are so much more uncomplicated than girls. A footy and an oval solves 90% of problems and they don't hurt grudges or have huge problems with that subtle change of tone or lift of the eyebrows.

 

[Guest]

Well written CP.

But amongst all the stresses we do have a lot of wonderful times with our kids and I feel sorry for those couples who won't or cannot have children.

I consider myself fortunate to have had 2 boys as from what other parents tell me girls are a lot more of a concern. Probably a lot more hormones than boys plus parents tend to worry about them a lot more when they are out at night whereas boys most times look after themselevs.

Whenever I start to worry about them driving their mates around at night I take comfort in knowing that at least they will not be drinking while doing it.

RBT is one of the best things to have ever been introduced and I often wonder how many young lives have been saved by the fact that the kids now take it in turns to be the designated driver and there is no stigma about being out with your mates at a club and only drinking soft drink because you are the designated driver.

20 years ago you would have gone home early because of the bagging your mates would have given you if you decided to stay on soft drink all night.

I often shake my head at the old days when i was their age and recall the numer of times i drove after an afternoon on the grog. I am sure many others did the same.

All parents should celebrate each year to comemorate the day that RBT was introduced.

 

[Matabele]

Matabele, that is spoken with the all the innocence of one who is yet to experience the joys of adolescent children.

Hey Pete

My rationale was that with 3 boys the adolescent years would be less complicated than if I had a girl or two. CW seems to back that up for me somewhat.

Mt opinion is also based on experience of a sort. My next sibling is 15 years older than me and unfortunately married a drug addict and proceeded to have three children with him. She left him when she found out that he was abusing them.

This means I became the "father" for 2 boys and a girl when I was only 19. Obviously they haven't had the best of starts in life so it was a very steep learning curve.

The oldest is now 25 and a wonderful young man, living in Sydney. The middle one is the one I have bled for over the years and is currently a source of much devastation. The girl is on the cusp of 21 and has endured some very rough years but looks to be coming good now. I can only pray that it continues.