James Packer and Crown executive chairman John Alexander on Thursday. Credit:AAP Packer was able to pull off the face-saving act this year due to a quirk in the timing of his appointment to the board: The remuneration report relates to the previous financial year, when Packer was not on the board. He is now on the board, of course, and will not be able to vote on the remuneration report while this remains the case. For the record, Crown reported that the vote on the remuneration report passed comfortably: 456 million shares voted for the resolution, 97 million against. The decisive factor was Packer's 342 million shares. Without it, Crown would have been struck with a massive first strike – 46 per cent of voting shares going against the resolution.

Illustration: John Shakespeare "There have been no material changes to the company's remuneration policy during the year and ASA will again be opposing the resolution," said the Australian Shareholders Association ahead of the meeting. It means that unless Packer and his loyal lieutenant John Alexander – Crown's executive chairman – make nice with their fellow shareholders on the issue of executive pay, it will be back to the "farcical" days of old. Who can forget Packer railing in 2011 against the fact he could not vote his stake on the issue despite drawing no pay from the company. Not that Packer's fellow directors have to worry about two strikes that would trigger a spill of the board.

"If that happens, I will use my votes to ensure all directors are voted back in immediately," Packer said when the company was previously hit with a strike. Mum's the word Packer had enough time to delve into other pet hates like political donations. He said he wished there was a zero dollar limit on political donations, "so then people couldn't ask" him for anything. When asked about his mum, Ros Packer's donation to the Liberal Party, he said, "I can't control my mother, can you control your mother?" He's got a point there.

Pollie waffle Speaking of politicians, the latest walloping from Packer would be no surprise to Andrew Wilkie who came to the billionaire's attention in 2010 when he held the balance of power in government and struck a deal with Julia Gillard to tighten controls on poker machines. The following year Packer took him on a tour of Crown Melbourne and Wilkie recounted the experience to Good Weekend. "The point was made repeatedly about what a responsible enterprise it was," remembers Wilkie, who felt grateful that Packer had taken the time to show him around. The tour ended in a conference room with Packer remarking on how pleasant the visit had been.

"Then he leaned across the table, got his face quite close to mine, and said something along the lines of, 'We wouldn't want the next meeting to be an unpleasant meeting, would we?' " Wilkie commented: "I just thought it was interesting that there was this one little moment when I got to look into his heart and soul and see another James Packer – a man prepared to use his political muscle, his financial clout, to get what he wants." The following year, Packer lobbed his proposal to build a casino in Sydney, sweeping aside any opposition in a breathtaking manner. Medcraft, out Retiring ASIC boss Greg Medcraft took Senate Estimates for the last time on Thursday.

And it was an affair heavy on the well wishing. The love-in even extended to John 'Wacka' Williams who thanked Medcraft, and was himself thanked by Medcraft. It was a far cry from the often icy relations between the regulator and the Nationals senator who did not always see eye to eye on its policing of our big banks. Part of Medcraft's swansong also included a reversal of his now famed "Australia is a paradise for white-collar criminals" line. It is a line that ASIC tried to "clarify" despite the comment being made to a room of business journalists.

Now Medcraft has officially reversed the ferret. "We want Australia to be a hell hole for white-collar criminals – to put it the other way!," Mr Medcraft said chuckling. We all do, Greg, we all do. Follow CBD on Twitter. Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au