By Sean Nicholls
James Packer's links to controversial gambling king pin Stanley Ho led NSW authorities to insist that the planned Crown Sydney casino implement specific measures to ensure the Hong Kong tycoon is never involved in the project.
The revelation is contained in previously censored documents tabled in the NSW Parliament relating to the authority's approval of Mr Packer's licence to operate a $1.2 billion casino resort at Barangaroo from 2019.
Lawrence Ho and James Packer at a news conference in Manila in 2012. Credit: Bloomberg
Dr Ho, who is credited with establishing Macau as a casino mecca, has long been accused of having close ties with Triad crime gangs, including through "junkets" used to attract Chinese high rollers.
His son, Lawrence Ho, is in partnership with Mr Packer in Melco Crown Entertainment, a casino company with interests in Macau and plans to expand across Asia and the United States.
Gambing tycoon Stanley Ho in 2008. Credit: Andrew Ross
The agreement between the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority and Mr Packer's company, Crown Resorts, contains a section entitled "Prevention of associations with Stanley Ho".
It says Crown will "ensure that it prevents any new business activities or transactions of a material nature between Stanley Huang Sun Ho or a Stanley Ho associate and Crown, any of Crown's officers, directors or employees or any Crown subsidiary".
Crown has also undertaken to prevent Dr Ho from holding any position in the companies or their subsidiaries or exercising any power over them.
It has promised to alert the authority of any non-compliance and provide written assurances to the authority within 60 days of the end of each calendar year.
Dr Ho's links to organised crime have troubled gambling regulators in other jurisdictions.
In 2006, Dr Ho resigned as chairman of Melco International during a probity investigation by Victorian gambling authorities asked to approve the Melco Crown joint venture.
The Victorian authority noted it was satisfied Dr Ho "is not in a position to exert any influence with respect to this venture".
In 2009, a report by New Jersey gambling regulators into a proposed joint venture between Dr Ho's daughter, Pansy Ho, and the MGM Grand casino described Dr Ho as "unsuitable".
"Numerous governmental and regulatory agencies have referenced Stanley Ho's associations with criminal enterprises, including permitting organised crime to operate and thrive within his casinos," the report stated.
It quoted a 2002 report into Triad activity in Macau casinos by Angela Leong, published by the Queensland University of Technology.
The report said establishment of VIP rooms in Dr Ho's casinos "created a 'lawless space' that allowed that allowed organised crime to gain a foothold in the Macau gaming industry".
It said "services" such as drugs, prostitution, loan-sharking and debt collection were made available.
Greens MP John Kaye said the disclosure "is an admission that the Barangaroo casino will pose a real threat to NSW".
"For the first time there is a public admission that the government and the regulator knew that the state would be at risk of organised crime and corruption penetration through Crown's new casino".
The documents were tabled on Thursday despite attempts by Crown, the ILGA and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to keep them secret.
Agreements between the authority and Crown Resorts were made public in September but sections of one document, the "VIP gaming management agreement", were censored by the authority, which claimed their release could be commercially damaging to Crown.
Dr Kaye won support in the upper house for an unredacted version of the agreement to be made available to MPs. An independent arbiter ruled it should be made public.
A Crown spokesman said a number of gambling regulators require it to report on dealings with "entities or persons known to be associated with Stanley Ho."
"Crown complies with those obligations and has no dealings or business relationships with Stanley Ho or entities controlled by him," he said.