Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family.
"A mischievous youngster and a poor student", Packer frequently switched schools, attending Turramurra College, Abbotsholme College, Wahroonga Grammar School, and Sydney Church of England Grammar School at various times. He did not sit for the Intermediate Certificate. Packer, Sir Douglas Frank (1906–1974), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 15, 2000.
Packer inherited his media interests on his father's death in 1934. In 1936, he joined with Ted Theodore's Sydney Newspapers and Associated Newspapers to form Australian Consolidated Press.
When television was introduced to Australia in 1956, Packer, along with the other major newspaper publishers (Fairfax Media, the Herald & Weekly Times and David Syme), became a significant television network shareholder under the federal government's "dual formula", which allowed each capital city to have two commercial networks and one ABC. He launched the first Australian station to broadcast a regular schedule, TCN in Sydney, which became the nucleus of the Nine Network.
The Packer media empire was known for its conservative leanings, and was a strong backer of long-serving Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
Packer was a keen yachtsman, boxer, golfer and polo player. He was on the Australian Jockey Club's committee for 12 years and won the Caulfield Cup with his horse Columnist. He was also chairman of a syndicate that built the yachts Gretel and Gretel II to challenge for the America's Cup in 1962 and 1970.Gretel 1962: the hands-on challenge Afloat issue 423 July 2025 pages 34-38 Naming of Gretel II Australian Women's Weekly 29 April 1970 page 11
In 1972, Sir Frank Packer sold his newspaper flagship, The Daily Telegraph, to Rupert Murdoch.
In 1992, journalist Max Walsh told the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media that Frank Packer had exerted undue newsroom influence. "Sir Frank was knee-deep in the editorial policy of the Telegraph", Walsh said.House of Representatives Select Committee on the Print Media 1992, News and Fair Facts: The Australian Print Media Industry, Report, AGPS, Canberra, p. 263
Packer married for the second time in June 1964 to Florence Adeline Vincent (née Porges) in London. She died in 2012.
His estate was valued for probate in 1975 at $2,393,703.11 which, adjusted for inflation, would account to $23,232,745.54 in 2023. Notable items declared in his estate, were paintings and sketches from some of Australia's most renowned artists, located at the family home, 'Cairnton' at Bellevue Hill was:
Sir William Dobell:
Sir Russell Drysdale:
Robin Hill:
Albert Tucker:
He was Knight Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1959, for services to journalism and the newspaper industry. It's an Honour: Knight Bachelor
In the New Year's Honours of 1971 Sir Frank Packer was promoted within the Order of the British Empire to Knight Commander (KBE), for services to Australian and international yachting. It's an Honour: KBE
Since 1980 the Frank Packer Plate has been conducted at Randwick Racecourse.
He was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1999.
In the 1988 television miniseries The True Believers, Packer was portrayed by Australian actor Max Phipps.
In the 2007 television biopic The King about comedian Graham Kennedy, Packer was portrayed by Australian actor Leo Taylor.
In the 2011 television miniseries , Packer was portrayed by Australian actor Tony Barry.
In the 2013 television miniseries , Packer was played by Australian actor Lachy Hulme, who had previously portrayed Kerry Packer in Howzat! Kerry Packer's War the previous year.
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