The declaration by the former chairman of the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority that James Packer's proposal to build the Barangaroo casino in Sydney lacked the appropriate parliamentary scrutiny echoes views of many others. But coming from the man who was the head of the NSW gaming regulator at the time the licence was granted, it should be both a huge embarrassment for the NSW government and testament to the influence Packer wields in Australia.

The claims by eight-year veteran of the gaming authority, Chris Sidoti, made on the ABC's Four Corners, suggest clearly that insufficient rigour was applied to the approval of a second casino licence in Sydney.

"There was no public tender process and there was no inquiry at any stage, a public inquiry, as to the public benefit involved in this," Mr Sidoti told Four Corners.

"I don't think there was an appetite for thorough scrutiny. I think there was a wish simply to get the job done in terms of having some basic level of examination and doing the deal."