2021-02-09
The Victorian Greens have said the writing is on the wall for Crown following the release of the Bergin report, and have called on the Andrews Labor Government to immediately strip Crown of its Victorian licence.
The report - which was tabled today and follows an 18-month investigation into Crown by the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority - has found that the gaming giant is not currently fit to hold its Sydney licence.
Some of the damning evidence that led to this decision included instances of money laundering and bags of cash under desks.
While the investigation was NSW-based, the evidence of Crown’s wrongdoings are based on its activities in Victoria and WA.
Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam, said it was time for Daniel Andrews to draw a line in the sand and finally take Crown’s Victorian licence away for good, ahead of this year's casino review, to curb any more dodgy behaviour.
She added that as long as Victoria had a toothless regulator and a wilfully blind government, Crown would continue to game the system.
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam MLC:
"For years the Andrews Labor Government has turned a blind eye to Crown’s dodgy behaviour and our toothless regulator has done very little to curb it.
"But with the release of the Bergin report the writing is on the wall - Crown just isn’t fit to hold a licence.
"Daniel Andrews may have a cosy relationship with the gambling industry but that shouldn’t give Crown a hall pass to play by a different set of rules.
"Victoria shouldn't need another review to tell us what we've known all along. Crown should be stripped of its Victorian licence immediately."