Meares: Packer was a ‘pirate’

Billionaire businessman James Packer speaks candidly about his conversion to Scientology and his father Kerry in a rare television interview.

A Packer for three years ... Fashion designer Jodhi Meares with her new men's wear collection. Picture: Justin Lloyd Source: News Corp Australia

JODHI Meares has made a bold return to television, telling ABC's Australian Story her former father-in-law Kerry Packer was a 'pirate' — a hard man with a soft interior.

The model and one-time TV presenter has offered her impressions of the late media baron during the first of a two-part instalment of the documentary series which explores what Jodhi Meares describes as Kerry Packer's "complicated life."

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Former Mrs Packer ... Jodhi Meares has called her late father-in-law Kerry Packer a "pirate." Source: News Limited

Divorced from Kerry's son James Packer since 2002, Meares has rarely spoken about her marriage or his powerful family but comments on the burden of the business dynasty that now rests with her ex-husband.

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Meares says "there is no question Kerry was a tough man ...(he) was a pirate ... but I think that often times people with a hard exterior are the softest inside."

In a five-minute teaser, she describes the enormity of the man, both in physical stature and reputation.

"There were so many things that were fascinating about Kerry, just a presence, his existence, he was just such a big being you know ... he took up a lot of space. He was just there and he came with a force."

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Family coffee ... Kerry Packer and his then daughter-in-law Jodhi at a Double Bay cafe in 2002. Picture: Gregg Porteous. Source: News Limited

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Former Prime Minister John Howard, current Federal communications minister and Packer senior's former lawyer, Malcolm Turnbull, cricket legend Ian Chappell and Al 'Chainsaw' Dunlop were also interviewed for the program.

Turnbull says: "there is a tendency to see Kerry as a mono-dimensional raging tyrant — you know, the great Citizen Kane type of press baron, always pounding the desk and hurling abuse at minions — but he was a much more complex picture than that."

Magazine publisher Richard Walsh says his former boss "was such a mixture of a man. Some of the apparent brutality was a man fighting against his own demons."

While an ABC press release denies the episode is a "hatchet job or hagiography" the sizzle reel opens with the reinactment of a 1956 fatal car accident which left three dead and Packer, the 18-year-old driver of one vehicle, with a broken leg.

Happier times ... James Packer and his former wife Jodhi Meares on Garden Island in 2001. Source: News Limited

Meares' three-year marriage to James is believed to have faltered in part under the weight of public scrutiny of one Australia's most famous families.

She says: "I think being born into a family like the Packers is absolutely a double-edged sword. It's certainly a complicated life."

In scenes which did not make the episode's final edit, Meares tells of the sentimentality of her imposing father-in-law, who had a soft spot for animals.

"The first time I ever met Kerry he'd been up all night with his Rottweiler, Lady — and Lord Dudley, who was the father of the litter — because she was birthing the puppies.

James was like "Oh, Lady had puppies, let's go over and see them". So we went over, I think it was pretty early in the morning, it was New Year's Eve and there he was, proud as punch with all of these beautiful little Rottweiler puppies."

It was the early days of her relationship with the media and casino heir, with Meares choosing one of the puppies to keep.

"Tamzin was her name and she became my great friend and companion for 10 years."

In another anecdote she details how both James and Kerry stopped traffic in a bid to save two horses caught up in a road accident after the running of the Melbourne Cup.

"We were driving back to airport on the freeway and a horse float jackknifed. One of the horses had escaped and it was running down the middle of the Melbourne freeway and the other was stuck in the float.

"We drove past exactly as this was happening and I was like "Oh, stop the car" and, you know, just saw this horse running down the middle of traffic. So of course Kerry told his driver to stop the car and we all got out.

"James went and caught the other horse and helped calm it down. And Kerry was dealing with the situation with the float that had been turned over and he called somebody and said `we need a hacksaw' and got it there, you know?

"I think it was 30 or 40 minutes and the whole situation had sort of been handled and he'd got the horse free. I didn't see anyone else stopping, you know what I mean? They stopped and it was just the right thing to do."

"married a Packer a double-edged sword" ... James Packer kisses his then wife Jodhi at the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne in 2002. Source: News Limited

Kerry Packer: A Complicated Life, Australian Story, Monday April 7 & 14, 8pm, ABC1

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