Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

For some time, I've been investigating allegations of serious misconduct at Crown Casino. These allegations have been brought to me by a number of former Crown employees. Although the allegations focus on Crown in Melbourne, they also suggest a broader pattern of misbehaviour in the poker machine industry, and that, obviously, has grave implications for people right around Australia, including in my electorate of Denison. For example, the whistleblowers allege illegal machine tampering, including the disabling of lower-bet options and the modifying of buttons to allow prohibited autoplay, both of which increase gambler losses. Moreover, there's software manipulation to increase gambler losses even further, in particular, on weekends when the number of naive, first-time and casual users is obviously much greater.

I'm horrified to recount that the Victorian Commission for Gaming and Liquor Regulation has allegedly done nothing to stop this shocking criminal misconduct. According to whistleblowers, in some cases the commission is clearly complicit in covering it up. Regrettably, the alleged misconduct at Crown is not limited to poker machines. Indeed, the whistleblowers also allege that the casino avoids AUSTRAC's scrutiny of individuals involved in transactions over $10,000 by sometimes tolerating and even encouraging the misuse of identity documents. If these allegations are true, then Crown would be facilitating money laundering for any number of nefarious reasons, like tax fraud, drug running and even terrorism. Other examples of alleged misconduct at Crown include the sanctioned use of illicit drugs at the casino, the practice of covering up domestic violence, and management's disinterest in staff flaunting the law prohibiting them gambling at the venue.

There are too many allegations to address in this short speech, so I encourage members and senators, law enforcement and regulatory agencies, and the media to scrutinise the video record of the whistleblowers' testimonies. You will see that the identities of the whistleblowers have been obscured for their personal safety, and because it was a condition of them speaking out. However, their identities have been confirmed by me, and I'm confident we must consider very seriously the information they provide. These whistleblowers know the risks they're taking by speaking up. I pay tribute to them for doing this.

I also call on the federal and Victorian governments to ensure that the allegations are investigated thoroughly. Many laws have possibly been broken, and the truth will not be uncovered without a parliamentary inquiry and investigations by law enforcement and regulatory agencies. I seek leave to table a copy of the record of interview with the Crown Casino whistleblowers.

See this speech in context