CARR SACKS GAMING CHIEF

THE head of NSW's gaming watchdog, Kaye Loder, was forced to resign
yesterday after saying she was sorry a heroin trafficker was no longer a
patron of Star City Casino. Premier Bob Carr said he sought Ms Loder's
resignation after she appeared publicly to welcome the proceeds of drug
trafficking at Sydney's casino.

Mr Carr said Ms Loder, the part-time chair of the Casino Control Authority,
had to leave her $55,000-a-year job to protect public confidence in the
control of gambling in NSW.

Ms Loder said on ABC TV's Four Corners program - aired on Monday night - she
was "sorry" to see gambling by heroin dealer Duong Van Ia leave NSW after he
was excluded from the Sydney casino in 1997.

"I'm sorry to see the money go out of NSW, but I'm speaking personally for
myself," Ms Loder said.

"If you have a legal casino, at least you regulate the gambling that is
available and the State obtains some benefit from the revenue.

"If that money is coming from heroin deals and is going into casino gaming
and is coming back to the State in the way of revenue, it's a matter of
debate about whether or not that's a good thing, or an acceptable thing."

Ms Loder, 57, chair of the regulatory body since September 1998, cleared out
her desk yesterday but was unable to be contacted either at her Drummoyne
home or her office.

The lawyer and former deputy chair of the Australian Council for Women has
long-standing ties with Labor. But that association was unable to save her
career yesterday.

Mr Carr said Ms Loder's comments on Four Corners were "intolerable" and not
either his view or the views of the Government. "I sought her resignation
... because I found her comments on Four Corners were unacceptable," Mr Carr
said.

"We don't want to see people who've made money out of this inhuman trade in
addictive drugs be able to put their money, ill-gotten as it is, immoral as
it is, through the casino.

"It's clearly intolerable to me to have the person who chairs the Casino
Control Authority saying that it's somehow acceptable, that it's somehow the
lesser of the available evils, to have money accrued through heroin dealing
put through the roulette."

Police Commissioner Peter Ryan ordered Duong's exclusion. Duong was
convicted and jailed for drug dealing outside a school in 1998.

Duong apparently had a gambling turnover of $94 million in six months in the
high roller Endeavour Room before his exclusion.

The figure includes reinvested winnings, but it is likely his gambling
contributed millions of dollars to State Treasury in casino duty.

Star City must report to the Australian Transaction and Reports Analysing
Centre every transaction above $10,000. It claims it reported 18,000 of
these last financial year - and about 1-2 per cent or 300 were suspicious.

Commissioner Ryan also has excluded 40 people, including Duong, for criminal
activity.

Mr Carr said there was no evidence of a problem with either monitoring
criminal activity at the casino or the strength of the Casino Control
Authority Act.

"There was no evidence presented on Four Corners that there is inadequate
police scrutiny of people in the casino or an inadequate police power."

The State Government was further embarrassed yesterday by budget figures
showing the number of Casino Surveillance Division staff had been more than
halved last year from 67 to 29. The division - which polices gambling at the
casino - had its budget cut from $5.6 million in 1998-99 to $2.8million in
12 months.

A spokeswoman for Mr Carr said money for the Casino Surveillance Division
had been cut following a recommendation for a review in April 1998 by then
Auditor-General Tony Harris. New, more sophisticated electronic surveillance
also meant less staff were required to continue the same level of
surveillance.

The Opposition, which highlighted the budget cut, called for the release of
all reports on suspected criminal activity at Star City and a special
investigation into drug money going into the casino. Opposition gaming
spokesman Robert Oakeshott claimed there were "numerous reports" detailing
criminal activity at Star City by the Casino Surveillance Division. But he
claimed the Casino Control Authority had failed to act on them.

Mr Carr also defended the need for NSW to have a casino, warning of a return
to the days of illegal gaming if the Sydney casino was to go.

A thorough review of the casino's operations, automatic every three years
under the Casino Control Authority Act, is due later this year.

State Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski said a report into casino
operations was needed to reassure the public the venue was not a laundromat
for drug money.

She also said the Government needed to ensure the vacated role of the CCA
chief would be filled by someone chosen on merit and not from within party
ranks.

"What we need to see from the Premier is people being appointed on merit,
not because they happen to be a Labor mate," she said.