$300m gone: James Packer reveals great Aussie fear

Billionaire James Packer has revealed his ‘bittersweet’ relationship with Australia amid revelations of the $300m reason he won’t come home. Picture: Getty

Coverage of the recent James Packer interview for the Rampart website has overlooked the puzzling backdrop to his Christmas homecoming to catch up with family and friends in Sydney.

“Is it perhaps a bittersweet relationship that you have these days with your home town?,” the Australian billionaire, 58, was asked during the one-hour interview.

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The exterior of the Crown Tower, Barangaroo.

James Packer. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

“Um, it’s probably a bittersweet relationship I have with the ATO.

“You know, I mean, I’m non-resident. I’ve probably spent six weeks in Australia in the last 10 years, and you know, I’m told that if I spend any more than a couple of weeks in Australia, you know, they’re going to be difficult.”

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Packer’s Sydney penthouse.

The abbreviated uploaded video, recently filmed on board his yacht IJE in Fiji, did not take the matter further.

Of course, there have been whispers that Packer refrains from bringing IJE, his 108m yacht into Australian waters for fear of it being impounded.

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James Packer’s yacht IJE. Source: Burgess

Would the ATO impound it? Source: Burgess

The billionaire’s life.

One of the suites- Source: Burgess

The yacht is worth more than $300m.

It was listed in 2021 before being pulled from sale.

IJE’s next voyage seems set to be to the Panama Canal, so he will possibly sail on to his Mexican retreat.

Packer retains clear title to his Crown Resort, Barangaroo apartment, which cost $72,229,573 in 2021, and his Bellevue Hill family compound, which cost $105m in 2023.

Packer’s principal residence is in the Colorado ski resort town of Aspen that he bought in 2013 for $US15.6m.

+ Additional reporting: James MacSmith

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