Packer package the $60m question THE Sydney Theatre Company and Art Gallery of NSW learned this week they are set to receive the biggest single donations in their histories, but neither saw it coming. James Packer and his Crown Entertainment casino business have pledged $60 million across 10 years to the arts in NSW, with $10m earmarked for AGNSW and $15m for the STC. It was not until Monday night, however, a few hours before the pledge was made public, that the heads of those institutions learned of it; they still don't know how it will be distributed. A spokesman for AGNSW chairman Steven Lowy says: "We got a call the night before and agreed the gallery and casino would discuss the implementation of the donation in due course." A spokesman for the STC says the private-public donation is the result of "many conversations over a period of time and a very close relationship with the (Packer) family." A spokesman for Crown says that after NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell announced the casino development at about 8pm on Monday, he hit the phones. "I rang Bangarra at 11 o'clock," he says. But he didn't reach all of the companies. From the total $60m, $30m is for companies and programs in western Sydney while $5m will be distributed between Sydney Symphony, Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Dance Company and the Museum of Contemporary Art. A spokeswoman for one of those companies says her group still has not received any official notification of the donation. Crown's spokesman says the money will be distributed across the next decade.