‘More people have got to go’: Crown boss, Demetriou under fire
The head of the NSW gambling regulator says Crown Resorts’ chief executive Ken Barton and high-profile director Andrew Demetriou need to resign if the under-siege gambling giant wants to open its $2.2 billion Sydney casino.
Two representatives of major shareholder James Packer resigned from Crown’s board on Wednesday after an independent report highlighted the billionaire’s harmful influence over the group as a key reason it was unfit to hold the licence to its casino at Barangaroo.
Pressure is building on high-profile director Andrew Demetriou (pictured) and Crown Resorts’ chief executive Ken Barton to resign.Credit:Getty Images
But Mr Barton and Mr Demetriou are holding out despite former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin’s report finding that Crown is unlikely to become a suitable licence-holder while they remained with the company.
NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority chair Philip Crawford said on Thursday morning that “more people have got to go” for Crown to reform itself.
Asked on ABC radio if Mr Barton being sacked and Mr Demetriou leaving the board would be a good start, Mr Crawford said: “yes”.
“You can assume we’ll be talking to Ms Coonan about those matters fairly shortly,” he said in a separate interview on 2GB radio.
“When you read the report there’s a certain obviousness [about what needs to happen].”
Crown was set to open the gaming floors at its new casino in late December but ILGA blocked it from doing so after evidence of money laundering at Crown’s Melbourne and Perth casino emerged from a public inquiry.
Mr Crawford said that there was no guarantee that Crown would be able to make itself suitable but he was pleased with the response to the report by Crown chairman Helen Coonan.
“They’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “They haven’t operated in this state yet and they may never.”
Mr Crawford also left the door open to ILGA moving to reduce Mr Packer’s 37 per cent shareholding, saying it was something the regulator’s board would discuss when it meets on Friday.
“The influence has already been diluted by his retreat from the board, that’s a really positive start,” he said.
“The other side of that is sometimes with these shareholder issues that there is a commercial outcome. It’s something we’re going to be looking at.”
The potential for Mr Packer to be found unsuitable to be involved in the Sydney casino has raised speculation he could finally sell his $2.4 billion stake in Crown following several failed attempts to exit the company in recent years.
Commissioner Bergin’s report - released on Tuesday following an explosive 18-month public inquiry - found that Crown had facilitated money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos, partnered with figures linked to organised crime, and disregarded the safety of staff in China before 19 were arrested there in 2016.
The inquiry was triggered by a series of reports by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes, which Mr Crawford said this week had been “totally vindicated”.
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Business reporter at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.