Crown ‘operated in vacuum of information’

The sole surviving independent director of Crown Resorts’ WA arm has unloaded on the parent company and the structure of its local operations.

Seven West Media WA CEO Maryna Fewster heads into the Perth Casino Royal Commission. Picture: Colin Murty The Australian.

The sole surviving independent director of Crown Resorts’ Western Australian arm has unloaded on the parent company and the structure of its local operations.

Maryna Fewster, the chief executive of Seven West Media’s WA operations, told the royal commission into the Perth casino that the board responsible for the WA operations operated in a “vacuum” of information and a lack of independence.

Her damaging testimony comes as the royal commission scrutinises the suitability of Crown to continue holding its licence to operate WA’s only casino.

Ms Fewster – who continues to sit on the board of Burswood Ltd, the Crown subsidiary that ultimately holds the Perth asset – said the subsidiary held infrequent meetings and directors received “sloppy” board packs with insufficient notice and limited information.

She also revealed that Burswood Ltd had not held a board meeting for four and a half months during the period when the WA Royal Commission was called. The board finally met again in April this year.

In contrast, Ms Fewster said Ms Coonan had told her the Crown board had meet 18 times between February and April.

“In my experience, when a company goes through a period of crisis, and I would call this a crisis, you would normally see activity lifting,” she said.

“My experience since December 2020 was a complete vacuum.”

When a board meeting was finally held in April – after Ms Fewster made eight requests for a meeting – the board pack that arrived 48 hours before and contained “substandard material”.

“It’s not reasonable to expect a non-executive director to deliver based on the material provided and the timeliness,” she said.

Ms Fewster also slammed the appointment of new Crown chief executive Helen Coonan and Lonnie Bossi to the Burswood Ltd board in recent months, arguing that the subsidiary board should have a greater proportion of independent, WA-based directors.

“It should be a board of independent directors, and it is becoming a board of executive managers,” she said.

She said it while the pandemic meant 2020 had been a challenging year, it had become clear in the wake of NSW’s Bergin inquiry that “things aren’t exactly where we needed to be”.

“Appointing more management to the board wasn’t going to get us there,” she said.

She said the Burswood Ltd board should comprise Western Australian independent directors.

“Going forward, the focus and people’s number one priority has to be Crown Perth and to put Crown Perth ahead of any other decision,” she said.

She said she had been told by Ms Coonan that an independent review was underway to “streamline and centralise” Crown’s functions.

The commission continues.