Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. What more will it take for this place to act? It was not that long ago, just July this year, that we were all aghast—or, I may say, people outside of this chamber were aghast—at the 60 Minutes footage of Crown casino and the gambling industry and the very real and very disturbing allegations of money laundering, sex trafficking, junkets and money being washed through our casinos. Now we have seen, released by a very brave whistleblower, actual video footage from inside Crown itself. This video was provided by casino inspectors who worked inside Crown and who have gone public because they believe that the Australian people should see this, that the Australian people should see what is happening inside Crown. But this is beyond Crown. This is the gambling industry. They needed to show the Australian community, and they want this place to act. If you have not seen the video, another Aldi bag full of cash goes into the casino and wads of money, $100 bills in big wads, at least $10,000 per packet, go onto the table and come back as chips, and then everyone involved gets their share.

We can't allow that to happen in Australia. We can't allow this to continue. This is not just about Crown. This is why I support the member for Clark's motion here. He's correct. He is a member from Tasmania. I'm a member from South Australia. This is not just a Victorian issue. This is not just a Melbourne issue. This is entirely about border security, an area of government that the Australian taxpayer spends a huge amount of money on. Yet we are making a mockery of the good work that border security does when we allow this kind of corruption to occur. This is about public safety. If you oppose crime, if you oppose drug addiction, if you think that domestic violence and human trafficking are wrong, if you oppose the fact that we don't even know where this money is from—it could be it was from heroin dealers; we have no idea, but that money is washing through Crown casino and we have footage of it—we must act in this place.

As I said, just a few months ago everybody was aghast at the 60 Minutes expose on Crown casino. Yet, the following day, the opposition did not ask one single question about it of government in question time. Now they have an opportunity to redeem themselves. Now they have an opportunity to do the right thing and to make sure we clean up the gambling industry in this country—because we are hurting many, many Australians when we don't. When we walk past corruption, we all suffer. I urge both sides. I know Crown casino and the gambling industry generally have very close ties to many members of parliament. We all know this. We know that donations flow through. We get to see every February what's received and then published through the AEC. However, we have to do the right thing in this place. You can't ignore the footage. We must act on this footage.

So I would urge every member in this place: do the right thing and support this inquiry. We need to have a royal commission into this. Enough is enough. When we see Aldi bags with potentially millions of dollars in them, why on earth would we allow that to occur? AUSTRAC, the anti-money-laundering authority, must just shake their heads when they see that footage. It's like trying to hold back the ocean. Let me tell you: the gambling industry is our NRA in this country. People in this place who are elected to represent their communities must act and must support this motion.

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