Jacqui Lambie joins Andrew Wilkie in calling for parliamentary inquiry into Crown

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has backed calls for a parliamentary inquiry into Crown Resorts in a new sign of pressure on the company after days of revelations about its flagship Melbourne casino and payments to a brothel owner and alleged money launderer.

Senator Lambie said she was not surprised at the revelations about government officials and the casino's operations, declaring the affair was proof of the need for a federal commission to investigate corruption.

Jacqui Lambie has joined Andrew Wilkie in calling for a parliamentary inquiry into Crown. Credit: Joe Armao

"I was appalled by the revelations on 60 Minutes last night although it didn't surprise me," Senator Lambie said.

"It would appear that the government and ministers knew what was going on and were handing out visas at the same time.

"This is about money laundering and therefore criminal charges should apply to all involved. And the bigger question is what does the AFP intend doing about this? Nobody is above the law.

"This is another reason why we need a federal ICAC with teeth."

Labor has not ruled out supporting an inquiry but the Morrison government would have to support the push to ensure a joint committee gained support in both houses of Parliament.

Earlier, Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie said Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese should back the joint inquiry given concerns about failures by gambling regulators, immigration officials and border protection staff.

Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie is expected to join the call on Tuesday by seconding a motion to be moved by Mr Wilkie that will call on the government to establish an inquiry into Crown.

Mr Wilkie said federal agencies including Australian Border Force should immediately review any concerns about its operations, such as a serving officer who appeared to have worked in a private capacity for Crown or its high-roller customers.

But the government made no commitment to act on the concerns about Crown, revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes in recent days.

"I would hope the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader would see the sense in a parliamentary response," Mr Wilkie said on Monday.

"This is a lot more now than allegations about one little casino.

"It's multi-jurisdictional, it's multi-agency, it's international.

"This is very much something that the Australian government and the Australian Parliament should have an interest in."

Mr Wilkie, a longstanding critic of the gambling industry, lodged a complaint to the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission last week because of his concerns at the inadequate supervision of Crown by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation and the Victorian Police.

While he said Crown was a "unique" case compared to other Australian casinos, he said a joint inquiry, involving both houses of Parliament and all sides of politics, could review the culture of the wider industry.

"I think that would be one of the things that a parliamentary inquiry could explore – the degree to which there is a cultural or systemic problem among Australia's casino industry," he said.

"But even if there is not a problem in other casinos, Crown is in some ways Australia's most iconic casinos, and these allegations are so serious.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called for a parliamentary inquiry into Crown Resorts.Credit: AAP

"The government needs to take notice.

"We now know we can't rely on the Victorian gaming regulator. We can't rely on the Victorian police. It seems we now can't rely on consular officials, if these allegations are correct."

Mr Wilkie said he had spoken to whistleblowers who told him Crown was referred to as "The Vatican" because of its special status in Victoria.

"Within Victorian political, justice and regulatory circles it's regarded as a city-state and a law unto itself," he said.

"Just in recent years I've made allegations as serious as domestic violence in the hotel area of the casino, allegations of drug use or drug trafficking, and when I've made those allegations to Victoria Police they have refused to investigate them and said that's a matter for the Victorian gambling regulator.

"It's referred to as the Vatican by serving police officers."

Mr Wilkie said government agencies needed to review their own affairs and respond in light of the report on Crown.

"I would hope that all of the individual agencies that are involved in this are today reviewing their circumstances and the allegations relevant to them," he said.

"Given what I fear are cultural problems within some of these agencies, particularly in Victoria, there is a need for an external response to this."

Attorney-General Christian Porter said he had not seen the 60 Minutes report but expected briefings if required from regulators including the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, which monitors money-laundering.

"Money laundering and the relationship of money laundering and the ability to conduct that through gambling operations is obviously something that federal authorities keep their eye very, very closely on," Mr Porter told ABC Radio on Monday morning.

"I'm sure that there will be briefings coming up, just haven't received them yet."

Crown Resorts has longstanding connections with people on both sides of politics and has hired former politicians in the past.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Helen Coonan is on the Crown board and former Labor minister Mark Arbib has worked closely with the company in the past as an adviser to James Packer and his company Consolidated Press Holdings, the largest single shareholder in Crown.

Mr Wilkie said Crown had "recruited" politicians to resist his push several years ago for tighter controls on poker machines.

"Surely there is so much evidence now that politicians will stop ignoring it, and politicians and police and other people will stop treating Crown as the Vatican, as a law unto itself, and do something about it," Mr Wilkie said.

"There is a very unhealthy nexus between Crown Casino and the political establishment and the law enforcement and other establishments," he said.

"We have a systemic and a cultural problem. It will only be dealt with now with a very high level, external review of the situation."