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Last modified on Wed 10 Feb 2021 18.53 EST
Patricia Bergin’s report into Crown Resorts has left the Victorian gambling regulator in a difficult position – and facing the prospect of having oversight of the Melbourne casino, the biggest in the country, stripped away from it.
If a new casino regulator is set up, as the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews proposed on Wednesday, it is likely to be a far different beast to the current authority, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
To be effective, it will need to be far more aggressive, interventionist and transparent.
On Wednesday, Andrews defended the commission against the perennial attack that it has failed to regulate Crown – an attack that, on the evidence on the public record, unfortunately appears to be correct.
Charles Livingstone
Crown casino and hotel development, Barangaroo Sydney. Dan Himbrecht/AAP
After months of hearings, characterised by spectacular admissions including threats of violence, the report of the Bergin Inquiry into the probity of Crown Sydney Gaming, a subsidiary of Crown Resorts Limited, has been tabled in the NSW parliament.
Crown Resorts runs the Crown casinos in Melbourne and Perth.
The Inquiry found that Crown Sydney Gaming was “not a suitable person” to operate the Sydney casino.
It also found the parent, Crown Resorts Limited, was “not suitable to be a close associate of the licensee”.
The serious corporate failures relate to
Under-fire Crown Resorts CEO set to resign Crown Resorts CEO Ken Barton is understood to have agreed to resign following a meeting with chair Helen Coonan on Thursday.
Business by Damon Kitney, Lachlan Moffet Gray 11th Feb 2021 6:38 PM
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Subscriber only Under-fire Crown Resorts CEO Ken Barton is understood to have agreed to resign his role following a meeting with chair Helen Coonan on Thursday, amid criticism from the NSW and Victorian gaming regulators over his suitability in light of findings against him in the Bergin report on the James Packer-backed company. But The Australian understands that similarly embattled Crown director Andrew Demetriou is clinging on to his position, despite his suitability also being called into question by the regulators and the Bergin report.