The House of Packer

Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, came to the helm of Australian Consolidated Press a quarter of a century ago; in recent years his son, James, has begun taking over the reins of the dynasty. But despite the legendary reputation of Kerry Packer and his father Sir Frank, and the popular fascination with young James, the story of how Australian Consolidated Press came to be the behemoth it is today has never been told. This is the first book ever written about the creation of one of Australia's foremost media empires. ACP was the result of an unlikely partnership between Frank Packer, the son of a brilliant but controversial newspaper executive, and E. G. Theodore, a former Labor Premier and Federal Treasurer. The House of Packer tells how their piratical activities provided the capital for the launch of the spectacularly successful Women's Weekly in 1933 and then the acquisition of the Daily Telegraph, the Nine Television network, the Bulletin and Cleo. The House of Packer presents a riveting account of the internal feuds which periodically convulsed the empire; the rumbustious, bohemian journalistic atmosphere inspi