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Crown is currently under inquiry by the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, after being linked with a number of gambling crimes over the past four years.
But Neil Young, QC, says the group has taken steps to address such problems, and that those positive steps should be considered when deciding on Crown’s suitability to keep the license for its new casino.
Counsel assisting the inquiry have previously deemed the group unfit to operate the casino, which is due to open next month at Barangaroo.
The operator reportedly failed to prevent money laundering at its Perth and Melbourne casinos, while its partnerships with high-roller tour operators have been strongly linked to organised crime.
Crown also had staff arrested in China in 2016.
In his first day of oral submissions on behalf of Crown, Mr Young argued: “The events in China occurred more than four years ago.
“Neither the personnel nor the structures nor the policies that were in place at the time of the China arrests are not the personnel, structures and policies that will be in place at the time of the opening of the Barangaroo facility.
“There were honest mistakes by management. Those matters don’t carry forward to and cannot be the foundation logically or sensibly for any assessment going to current suitability.”
