![]() "I guess what I would say in operation, and this again came out in Bergin, there wasn't any evidence because there was none to see about any sharing of confidential information." "No, which obviously is an oversight of my part," Mr Poynton told the royal commission. Subsequently, Mr Poynton was questioned by his lawyer Peter Ward about whether he previously understood this agreement involved confidential Crown Resorts information. He said he was pretty sure that he had spoken with Crown Resorts general counsel and company secretary Mary Manos about the clause. He agreed with counsel assisting the royal commission that the existence of the clause created a potential conflict between the duties of confidentiality he owed in respect of Crown Resorts board discussions, discussions of the Burswood Ltd board (of which he was the chairman) and his obligations under the clause. When asked why he had agreed to that clause, Mr Poynton said: "I'm not sure in hindsight". The agreement defined such "confidential information" as to include confidential information of the Crown Resorts Ltd group. Under the agreement, struck between Mr Poynton's private company Mulloway Pty Ltd and CPH around May 2018, Mr Poynton was paid $50,000 a year for Mr Poynton to be a nominee on the CRL board.Īmong the terms of the agreement, a clause required each of Mr Poynton and Mulloway to deliver to CPH upon demand "confidential information" in their possession, power or control. Mr Poynton told the commission the legal purpose of the agreement was to ensure that he was not considered an 'independent' director of Crown. ![]() The royal commission in July heard of an agreement, instigated by Mr Packer, for Mr Poynton to act as a non-executive director of CRL to represent CPH, and provide business services as requested by CPH. He also appointed many of its directors, including Mr Poynton, key Packer lieutenant John Alexander and Multiplex heir and friend Tim Roberts. He chaired the Burswood Limited board, which oversees the Perth casino, from 2004 to 2016. Mr Packer's influence over Crown has also hovered over the Perth royal commission. Since the release of the Bergin report, all of CPH's nominees on the Crown Resorts board, including prominent Perth businessman John Poynton, have left. ".it is obvious that the real power was exercised by Mr Packer both by reason of his personality and also the somewhat supine attitude adopted by Crown's operatives," the Bergin report said. The Bergin inquiry explored in great detail the relationship between Crown Resorts and CPH, finding Mr Packer unsuitable to be involved with a casino. The WA royal commission has previously heard Crown Perth failed to act on money laundering, problem gambling, potential criminal activity and has potentially underpaid the tax it owes the WA government. Mr Packer gave evidence to the Bergin inquiry in New South Wales last year from his superyacht, moored somewhere off the coast of Tahiti. Royal commission staff are tight-lipped about exactly where he will beam in from. He is scheduled to give evidence to the Perth royal commission via videolink at the sprightly time of 6:30am, suggesting a time zone a long way from Perth. His reputation is in tatters, with high-level inquiries into his casinos in other Australian states finding him unsuitable to be involved in casinos and recommending his shareholding be dramatically reduced. When he sealed the deal to buy Western Australia's only casino in 2004, Australian billionaire James Packer saw it as a lucrative jewel in his plans for a global Crown casino empire.įast forward to Friday, where he will appear in the virtual witness stand of the Perth Casino Royal Commission, and the future of Crown Perth - and his Crown empire, of which he is the major shareholder - is on shaky ground.
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