State against State: Star says Qld casinos should not be judged on Sydney failures
Star Entertainment’s Queensland casinos shouldn’t be judged solely on the actions of their embattled counterparts south of the border, the gambling giant argues.
Star's development of the $3 billion Queens Wharf casino (File image)
A NSW inquiry has proposed a new independent casino regulator after hearing allegations Star enabled suspected money laundering, organised crime, fraud and foreign interference at its Sydney casino.
Queensland has ordered its probe into the Star’s suitability to hold a casino licence with the terms of reference due this week.
The Sunshine State also plans to strengthen gambling laws before the casino giant opens its $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf development in Brisbane in 2023.
The proposed laws would allow Queensland’s attorney-general to decide if casino operators are suitable to hold licences using findings of interstate or federal inquiries.
Star’s acting chief executive Geoff Hogg has urged the government to broaden its assessments, arguing casino operations in different jurisdictions are separate.
“A Queensland casino entity may not have necessarily had the opportunity to be heard before, or make submissions to, the State or Commonwealth inquiry whose findings the Minister is considering,” Hogg wrote in a submission on the bill.
“That potentially denies the Queensland casino entity procedural fairness in decisions the Minister is making as to ongoing suitability.”
Star also pushed back against allowing the minister to consider findings about an associate of a Queensland casino entity.
“There is scope for the Minister to form views on a Queensland casino entity’s ongoing suitability based on findings about its associates – when the associate operations may be quite different,” Hogg said.
He said Queensland casinos should have a right of reply if the state government uses interstate or federal findings to form a view about their suitability to hold a licence.
Only findings about a Queensland entity or its associates should be considered by a minister, Hogg wrote, not “associates of associates”.
Star also highlighted its contribution to the state economy, stating it employed more than 4000 people across Brisbane and the Gold coast.
The proposed laws would also allow more cashless gambling, and impose penalties of up $50 million for legal breaches.
Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, the federal regulator, have been probing Star’s money-laundering controls in the state for seven months.
