The friends spent several hours together at the function, exchanging jokes and often deep in conversation. Mr Packer laughed heartily at Mr Costello's jokes during his speech, including a comment by Mr Costello comparing the gold rush of the 1860s to today. You can still strike it rich in a day, but these days you don't dig, you float. James Packer became close to Mr Costello through their mutual friend, Mr Michael Kroger, the merchant banker and sometime powerbroker in the Victorian Liberal Party. It was Mr Kroger who got Mr Costello into Federal Parliament and it was Mr Kroger who spearheaded the 1997 lobbying attempt by the Packer empire to change the media laws so it could buy Fairfax.
Media policy is again in play.
And the issue of cross-media laws is always simmering in the background. If the Packer family is ever to realise its ambition to own Fairfax, it will need some powerful advocates of change in Canberra. The Age Company Ltd 2000. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. View our Privacy Policy .