Victorian royal commission into Crown Resorts set to kick off

Victoria will begin royal commission public hearings into James Packer’s Crown Resorts on May 17.

The Victorian hearings into Crown Resorts are expected to run for six weeks. Picture: AFP

Victoria will begin public hearings into James Packer-backed Crown Resorts on May 17 as the state’s royal commission probes the future of its Melbourne casino gaming licence.

The hearings are expected to run for six weeks with a witness list to be published in advance under a process being led by royal commission chair Ray Finkelstein, a former Federal Court judge.

The Victorian investigation follows a NSW probe which saw commissioner Patricia Bergin conclude the company is not suitable to operate its $2.2bn Barangaroo Casino after it facilitated organised crime and money laundering.

It recommended Mr Packer be forced to sell down his 36.7 per cent stake in the company unless he receives approval from a new casino regulatory body.

The finding represented a heavy business and personal blow to the billionaire, who had conceptualised the Barangaroo casino as a milestone achievement for his company and the realisation of a decades-long ambition for the Packer family.

Victoria’s $10m royal commission into Crown Resorts will become a test of the troubled casino group’s commitment to reform, with Mr Finkelstein declaring he will not double up on Ms Bergin’s explosive inquiry into the company.

Mr Finkelstein said it was “not in the public interest” for him to cover the same ground as the NSW inquiry.

Instead, the former federal court judge said he was more concerned with Crown’s current efforts to reform itself and how it deals with problem gamblers, rather than its controversial past, to gauge whether it was suitable to continue to hold a licence for its flagship casino in Melbourne.

At stake is Crown’s sprawling Melbourne casino complex, which stretches from near Docklands deep into the city along the Yarra River, making it Victoria’s biggest single-site employer.

Meanwhile, as the state’s only casino, it contributes a significant proportion to gambling taxation, which accounts for about 12 per cent of Victoria’s total revenue.

US private equity suitor Blackstone has revised its $8bn buyout offer for Crown — but it is conditional on the casino giant emerging from two royal ­commissions relatively unscathed. Rival private equity group Oaktree has also lobbed an indicative, unsolicited offer for $3bn in funding to buy back “all or some” of the majority stake held by Mr Packer’s private company, Consolidated Press Holdings.

The company is also fighting to hold on to its licence for the Burswood casino in Perth, with Western Australia also holding a royal commission into the company.