Labor leader says call by independent Andrew Wilkie for parliamentary inquiry into Crown casino allegations was not serious

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Anthony Albanese has rejected an allegation from the Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie that there is corruption in federal politics.

“I have not seen any evidence of direct corruption … that has been proven in my time when I’ve been in parliament,” he said on Sunday.

Speaking on the ABC, the Labor leader was defending the opposition’s decision this past week not to support a crossbench proposal for a parliamentary committee to examine new allegations involving Crown casino.

Nine Entertainment reported last weekend that Crown had – when trying to attract Chinese high-rollers to its Melbourne gaming rooms – partnered with people linked to organised crime and encouraged staff based in mainland China to stretch strict laws against promoting gambling, which led to 19 Crown staff members being arrested in China in 2016.

A couple of days after the allegations were published, Wilkie ventilated under parliamentary privilege further allegations from a former Crown driver turned whistleblower. The extraordinary allegations included claims he transported foreign nationals to the company’s Melbourne hotel from a private jet base without being subjected to border security checks and saw women degraded, abused and “slapped around”.

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Albanese said the crossbench move for a parliamentary inquiry into the controversy was suboptimal because it would lack powers of coercion.

He argued Wilkie’s proposal was not serious: “The crossbenchers who moved it didn’t bother to even ring us beforehand to inform us that they were moving that resolution on the floor.

“I say to Mr Wilkie, if he’s serious about moving a resolution in the parliament – I talk to him all the time, I have a good relationship with him – he should consult, if … he wants to get support for resolutions.”

Labor had supported a separate proposal from the Morrison government for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity to examine the allegations aired by Nine.

“It’s a body that looks after these issues, that does have coercive powers,” he said.

“You don’t conduct serious investigations with a parliamentary committee. What you need is a body that has the same powers of a royal commission, which this body has.”

When it was pointed out the ACLEI inquiry would not be able to examine the conduct of MPs, Albanese insisted any errant MPs would be drawn into the probe if there was any wrongdoing.

When parliament returns after the winter recess, the Greens will attempt to bring on debate in the Senate about a national integrity commission bill with more broadranging powers than the model being pursued by the Morrison government.

Albanese said on Sunday the government needed to get on with establishing its national integrity commission.

While he had not witnessed any corruption that had been proven during his career as a federal parliamentarian “one of the reasons why we need a national integrity commission is to ensure that the public can have confidence in that”.