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

I seek leave to move the following motion:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) a fifth Crown Casino whistleblower has now made allegations consistent with earlier whistleblowers about serious misconduct at the Casino;

(b) one of the allegations is that one or more machines manufactured by Xcite were illegally tampered with, to reduce the payout to gamblers, through the removal of the "gamble button", a feature which allows users to bet on their winnings, and that the relevant button was replaced by a blank plastic cap;

(c) this modification is inconsistent with the regulator' s approval of this type of machine and is therefore illegal;

(d) to verify the veracity of these latest allegations, one of the Member for Denison's staff visited the Casino at approximately 10 pm on Sunday, 22 October and confirmed this machine was operating on the floor of the Casino on the river side, near the membership office, but when that member of staff revisited the Casino on Wednesday, 25 October at approximately 4 pm the machine had been replaced by a different machine and the first machine was nowhere to be found;

(e) the illegal machine disappeared after the Member for Denison raised allegations concerning Crown Casino in the Parliament, which is clear evidence of someone covering up criminal activity; and

(f) there is a record of this episode which will be forwarded to police and the Victorian gambling regulator as soon as possible;

(2) further notes, that it is reasonable to assume that the misconduct in question is not unique to Crown Casino and extends to the poker machine industry broadly; and

(3) calls on the Government, and the Opposition, to immediately support a parliamentary inquiry into the casino industry so that those who allege misconduct, and representatives of the industry, can have their say in an open and transparent way and so that the community, including the 17 million who visit Crown Casino annually, can be witness to this.

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