Western Australia begins Royal Commission into Crown

The Royal Commission will decide if Crown Resorts is suitable to continue holding a casino gaming licence for Crown Perth and will investigate Western Australia’s regulatory framework for the gambling industry.

Australia.- The state’s Royal Commission began today as its chair, Neville Owen, announced the procedure it will follow.

The commission will follow two lines of investigation: one into Crown Resorts’ suitability to continue holding a casino gaming licence for Crown Perth, while the other will entail a comprehensive review of the state’s regulatory framework for gaming.

Justice Owen will work with Supreme Court judge Lindy Jenkins and former auditor-general Colin Murphy.

Owen has said he will take into account other investigations into Crown: the Bergin inquiry and the Victoria’s Royal Commission, which will investigate if Crown Resorts is suitable to maintain its licence for its Melbourne casino.

The Royal Commission is expected to deliver an internal report by June 30 and a final report by November 14.

Western Australian’s regulator, has already prohibited Crown Resorts from running high-roller activities at its Perth casino.

Another former SkyCity man joins Crown board

Following the appointment of former Skycity Entertainment CEO Nigel Morrison to Crown Resorts’ board, Crown has now announced Bruce Carter, formerly deputy chair of SkyCity, as a non-executive director. Carter oversaw the expansion development at SkyCity Adelaide.

Crown’s executive chairman, Helen Coonan, said: “Bruce brings to the Crown Board the ideal blend of commercial, governance and gaming sector expertise and is respected across Australia for his contribution to corporate and government roles.”

Coonan also announced that Professor John Horvath will retire as a director at Crown from April 14.