IN-HOUSE INQUIRY ON SKY CASINO – CERTAIN TO BE A WHITEWASH

“The in-house inquiry to be conducted by Internal Affairs into Sky City Casino is certain to be a whitewash,” said the Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First.

“To begin with the Inquiry is to be conducted by the Chief Gaming Inspector from Internal Affairs. This person spent two years at Sky City Casino when it opened as the Government Inspectorate Manager. The law requires a Government Inspectorate team at all casinos. The Internal Affairs Department is responsible for the inspectorate team at Sky City.

“In short, this is an in-house inquiry being conducted by government officials into events where it was their responsibility to identify and eliminate unlawful behaviour.

“If the inspectorate knew of these events then they are guilty of not bringing them to an end and charging those responsible. If they were unaware, then it calls into question their competence.

“Either way, Internal Affairs are highly embarrassed by a culture of dishonesty from many Sky City staff which only an independent inquiry, with no vested interest in the outcome, could properly identify.

“As the person who raised this issue, I have no intention of settling for an in-house whitewash of widespread theft, where security staff, rather than being left to complete their work, were instead taken off their investigations to save the casino and Internal Affairs embarrassment.

“Moreover, the public can have no confidence in such an inquiry,” said Mr Peters.

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