Helen Coonan will accept a $2.5 million salary to begin the process of rehabilitating scandal-plagued casino operator Crown Resorts as the company’s executive chairman.

Ms Coonan insisted she was the right person for the job despite having sat since 2011 on a board that an inquiry found had allowed company management to turn a blind eye to money laundering, physical risks to staff in China and junket tour providers with links to criminal Triad gangs.