The wheels at Perth's Crown Casino keep spinning despite royal commission's damning assessment
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Perth Casino Royal Commission found Crown not suitable to hold WA's only casino licence. It gave Crown two years to fix its problems. The commission also recommended that the government should continue to ban poker machines. The government accepted the commission's 59 recommendations. They will not commit to regular reviews of the casino license at least every five years. There will be no weakening of a ban on poker machine. In Victoria, a QC will take charge of Crown Melbourne. Mr Buti said the priority reforms are to give more powers to the Casino Watchdog and improve its independence. He also said there will no change to a law that bans poker.
Crown has paid an annual average of $2.9 million in licence fees and $58.4 million casino tax to the WA Government in recent years. The Bergin inquiry found that for many years casino revenue included the contributions of alleged criminals and money launderers. Since junkets were banned, the biggest source of revenue is electronic gaming machines.
The recommendations of the royal commission on Crown Perth's casino are likely to affect the casino's revenue from EGMs and high-spending and problem gamblers.
New laws were introduced to prevent money laundering and gambling-related harm at Crown Casino. The application process for high-roller Pearl Room applicants was complicated. Crown will have to prove its business model can meet the regulations and turn a decent profit.
The Crown Casino in Perth is operating despite the royal commission's damning assessment. Applicants to the high-roller Pearl Room have to prove they have the finances to gamble. There are time limits for EGMs, with a compulsory break after three hours of play, no more than 12 hours' play per 24 hours and no over 28 hours a week. Minimum bet size is reduced to $10.
