Crown resorts has been hit by a major setback after the New South Wales gaming regulator blocked next month's opening of a new multi-billion-dollar casino in Sydney.

The Victorian government has brought forward its review of Crown casino's licence. Credit: Scott McNaughton The licence review, which was not expected until 2023, will begin shortly after Ms Horne. Crown will co-operate with Victoria’s VCGLR casino probe The NSW inquiry into Crown’s casino gaming licence has brought forward Victoria’s review into the company by three years.

Melbourne’s Crown Casino is under threat of losing its licence with the Victorian government bringing forward an investigation into the controversial gaming venue. Picture: William West/AFPSource:AFP

Melbourne’s Crown Casino is under threat of losing its licence with the Victorian government bringing forward an investigation into the controversial gaming venue.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) will review the state’s largest single-site private sector employer following “concerning evidence” which came out of a NSW inquiry into Crown Sydney.

It was revealed the NSW gambling regulator last month blocked the planned launch of the casino group’s new $2.2 billion Sydney gaming complex.

The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority halted the opening after Crown made an 11th-hour submission to the Bergin inquiry — held this year to probe the suitability of Crown Resorts to hold a Sydney gaming licence — about criminals allegedly laundering cash through Crown in Melbourne and Perth.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) will review Crown Melbourne. Picture: Scott Barbour/AAPSource:AAP

A dedicated commissioner will be appointed to the VCGLR to hold the seventh Crown Casino review.

The state’s Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Minister Melissa Horne said there was “a need for an immediate response” in Victoria following “concerning evidence” presented during the course of the NSW investigation.

“We’re making sure Crown Melbourne conducts its business in a transparent and appropriate manner,” she said.

“This review is needed given the evidence we’ve seen come out of the NSW inquiry.

“While we await the findings of that investigation, it’s appropriate to bring forward the next review to ensure Crown Melbourne is suitable to hold a licence in Victoria.”

The most recent investigation, the Sixth Casino Review, occurred in 2018.

The ILGA Inquiry will hand down its findings in February 2021.

Counsel assisting the NSW inquiry into the suitability of Crown Resorts to operate Sydney’s new Barangaroo casino summed up this week by telling the commissioner that Crown was 'not a suitable person to continue to give effect to the licence, and that Crown Resorts is not a suitable person to be a close associate of the licensee'.

Adam Bell SC reached the conclusion after considering the deleterious impact on the good governance of Crown Resorts caused by its dominant shareholder [James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings] and, ultimately, Packer.

He reminded the inquiry that protection of the public interest was a key objective of the NSW Casino Control Act.

The Barangaroo casino is yet to open, but Crown already operates two other Australian casinos – one in Melbourne and one in Perth – and one in London.

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The Melbourne casino has been the centre of multiple whistle-blower and other allegations connected with tampering with gambling machines, associations with criminal identities, and the arrest of 19 Crown staff in China in 2016.

The Sydney inquiry was initiated after the Nine network and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald published allegations about money laundering and links with criminals.

A tale of two cities

The Melbourne regulator, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, acted more quietly, initiating a still-uncompleted inquiry into the arrest of Crown staff in China in 2017, and putting its inquiry into the money laundering allegations on hold until it had seen the outcome of the NSW inquiry.

Belatedly, last month, a full eight months after the NSW hearings began, it issued Crown with a “show cause” notice relating to money laundering controls.

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The state government had asked it to act as “a matter of priority” in mid-2019.

In 2017, Victoria’s auditor-general identified serious issues relating to the VCGLR’s oversight of Crown.

It highlighted a “lack of leadership”, the second-lowest staff satisfaction levels in the Victorian public sector, a lack of a “coherent organisation-wide approach to casino supervision”, and insufficient attention to key areas of risk in the casino’s operations, including money laundering.

In its five-yearly review of Crown’s licence in 2018, the VCGLR identified some concerns.

The concerns involved compliance with money laundering rules, the lack of engagement of independent directors with an oversight of the Melbourne casino, an uninspiring adoption of the responsible gambling rules, and a less-than-complete honouring of requests for self-exclusion.

It nevertheless concluded that it was in the public interest for Crown to maintain its licence.

Fines rather than sanctions

Fines have been the VCGLR's preferred means of dealing with breaches of licence conditions.

In 2018, it fined Crown A$300,000 for gambling machine tampering, and $25,000 in 2018 for a breach of junket rules.

It said it believed fines were enough in the light of Crown’s 'past compliance history and general and specific deterrence, balanced against the level of cooperation, remorse, contrition and corrective action taken by Crown'.

Yet the NSW inquiry has heard evidence from James Packer and the company’s directors and management pointing to multiple continued failures in all these categories, in Melbourne.

The NSW premier has signalled concern about the casino’s planned opening in December, given that inquiry is not due to report until February.

West Australia’s regulator found no issues with Crown Burswood in its most recent (2018-19) annual report, but says it is monitoring the NSW inquiry.

Too big to touch?

It might be that Crown has become too big to regulate, at least in Victoria.

For some reason, the company has had enormous success with deflecting criticism. Along with other gambling operators, it has recruited powerful political figures from both major parties to assist it, and is a major political donor.

There was ample evidence of the problems in Victoria well before the NSW inquiry identified them.

Read more: The Crown allegations show the repeated failures of our gambling regulators

The Victorian regulator’s slow and overly respectful approach might be because it felt Crown was too important to be held to account, or had too many political connections, or was too important as an employer or contributor to government revenue.

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Or it might be because, as the auditor suggested, it has problems with staff.

But if we are to have any faith in Victoria’s ability to regulate gambling and crime, it’ll need to do more. NSW is showing how.

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Read more: Gaming the board: Crown Resorts shows you just can't bet on 'independent' directors

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This article originally appeared on The Conversation.