WA royal commission flags probe of ‘grave’ matters at Crown casino

WA casino regulations face their first shake-up in decades, as the royal commission into Perth’s Crown casino begins hearings.

The Crown casino in Perth.

The head of the West Australian royal commission into Perth’s Crown casino says the inquiry can meet its timetable despite key parts not yet being in place.

In his first public appearance since being appointed to lead the inquiry, former Supreme Court judge Neville Owen said the commission still needed to appoint a deputy project director and had not yet completed its analysis of the NSW inquiry into Crown that triggered WA’s royal commission.

During a brief hearing on Monday to formally mark the start of proceedings, Mr Owen said the commissioners were determined to meet deadlines set by the WA government when the inquiry was announced earlier this year. The commission is due to deliver an ­interim report into WA’s gaming regulations by the end of June, and a final report by November 14.

Mr Owen said simultaneous hearings might take place where appropriate.

The decades-old regulations governing WA’s gaming industry are likely to come under intense scrutiny as the inquiry progresses, with Mr Owen noting the commission would explore “grave matters” of public interest.

“As far as we are aware, this is the first time since the grant of the casino licence in 1988 that there has been an inquiry into these ­issues,” he said. “Given social changes in over 30 years, there is an increased importance to an inquiry of this kind.”

The commission was called in the wake of damning findings from NSW’s Bergin inquiry into the suitability of the gambling giant to hold the new Barangaroo gambling licence in Sydney.

That inquiry unearthed alleged widespread money laundering through the Perth casino by “junket” operators out of Asia.

“We recognise the contribution Crown facilities make to employment and recreation for people in WA and the tourism industry,” Mr Owen said. “However, the Crown Group only operates a casino within that complex because it holds a statutory licence issued by the government of WA on behalf of the people of this state and the nation generally. This renders the socially responsible and efficient operation of its gaming activities as matters of public interest.”

The WA royal commission will rely heavily on the findings of the NSW Bergin inquiry, with Mr Owen noting it was not in the public interest for a full-scale re-examination of matters already “exhaustively covered”, but he said he and his fellow commissioners were still examining how the Bergin findings would be used.

“We are not yet in the position to indicate the precise use we will make of the report and the source material which are on public record and which inform the matters raised in it,” he said.

Counsel assisting, Patricia Cahill, told the hearing the public examinations, which begin next month, would look at casino regulation practices from around the world. “We anticipate it will be necessary for us to obtain evidence, in particular of an expert nature, about the current and emerging ­issues relevant to the operation of casinos and the current best practice both in Australia and internationally to address those issues,” she said. “That will assist the commission’s inquiry into whether the current legislative framework is fit for purpose and represents best practice in 2021. If it doesn’t, such evidence will be helpful in identifying the changes that need to be made to the legislative and regulatory framework so it represents best practice now and also for the future.”