State government announces royal commission into Crown Casino

The state government will launch a royal commission into Crown Casino after the independent Bergin report found it was not suitable to hold a licence in New South Wales.

It comes as the damning NSW inquiry found that Crown had facilitated money laundering and brought in highrollers who had organised crime links.

Former Federal Court judge Raymond Finkelstein QC will chair the inquiry.

The terms of reference are yet to be released.

Minister for Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne made the announcement on Monday.

“The government has determined we will be establishing a royal commission into the suitability of Crown’s operations here in Melbourne,” she said.

“Following the Bergin inquiry there were a number of significant issues that came out.

“We’ve gone through that inquiry line by line, through that report, and understood commercial contracts and got the legal advice to what the most appropriate form is and what the most appropriate response is to those severe findings.”

Gambling researcher at Monash University Dr Charles Livingstone says the allegations against crowns are “as bad as it gets.”

“All casinos are magnets for crime but it looks like Crown has been a bit of a supercharged version of that,” he told Tom Elliott on 3AW Drive.

“It’s certainly the most serious situation we’ve seen in casino gambling in this country.”

Click PLAY to hear the interview below