Crown Resorts Appoints Former Western Australia Treasurer Chair of Crown Perth
Posted on: May 27, 2025, 08:54h.
Last updated on: May 27, 2025, 09:08h.
- Crown Resorts has named two new key officials to oversee Crown Perth
- Crown continues its corporate overhaul in hopes of being deemed suitable to conduct gambling games by government regulators
- Crown Perth is the oldest casino property in Crown’s three-resort portfolio
Embattled Australian casino giant Crown Resorts continues to undergo remedial efforts to make its gaming operations suitable in the eyes of government regulators. The latest chapter of the years-long corporate overhaul involves tapping the former treasurer of Western Australia to oversee the company’s Perth business.
On Monday, Crown Resorts announced that Ben Wyatt is the chair-elect of the Crown Perth Board of Directors. He will additionally serve as a director.
A member of Parliament’s controlling Labor Party, Wyatt served in the Legislative Assembly for Victoria Park from 2006 through 2021. He became treasurer of Western Australia in March 2017, a role he served through part of the COVID-19 pandemic until March 2021.
As treasurer, Wyatt was responsible for the financial management of the state. Crown is betting on Wyatt bringing his budgeting and cost supervision expertise to Crown Perth, the organization’s oldest property, which opened almost four decades ago.
“As Western Australia’s largest single-site employer, Crown is a key part of the Western Australian economy, and I am excited to be joining a business that delivers some of Perth’s most exciting developments, entertainment offerings, and tourism opportunities,” Wyatt said.
Wyatt will succeed, pending a board vote, John Van Der Wielen, who has agreed to stay on the board over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.
Perth Appointments
Wyatt wasn’t the only new key executive named to Crown Perth’s governance on Monday. The company also revealed that Brian Pereira will become the casino resort’s next CEO, pending regulatory approvals.
Pereira has been with Crown since 2023 when he became the chief financial officer of Crown Peth. Previously, Pereira was the CFO for Perth Airport. His more than 30 years of financial and corporate strategic experience additionally includes stints at WesTrac Caterpillar, Brookfield Rail (now Arc Infrastructure), and BankWest.
Pereira is succeeding David Tsai, who was named president and group chief operating officer of Crown Resorts last August and has since become CEO of the group following Ciaran Carruthers’ exit. Pereira has been serving as the interim CEO of Crown Perth since Tsai’s promotion.
Tsai, who has been tasked with continuing Crowns’ corporate corrective revamp after state inquiries in the three Australian states where it does business — Western Australia Victoria, and New South Wales — found the company regularly looked the other way when it came to suspected money laundering and other criminal activity on its gaming floors, said Wyatt and Pereira both bring valuable experience to the Perth resort.
“I am confident that these two appointments, with their deep local knowledge of the Western Australia tourism sector and economy, are the right people to lead the Perth team into the next exciting era of growth for the state’s only fully integrated entertainment resort,” Tsai said.
Critical Ruling Imminent
The Crown Perth appointments come on the heels of the Western Australia Gaming and Wagering Commission revealing that a finding into the casino’s suitability following years of being governed by an independent monitor is looming.
Speaking with the Australian Financial Review, Gary Dreibergs, chair of the state gaming regulator, confirmed that the agency is reviewing the monitor’s findings “relative to remediation” and is “considering appropriate recommendations relative to the suitability of the Perth Casino licensee.”
Dreibergs said the findings and recommendations “will be delivered when appropriate.”
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