The Gotterson inquiry delivered its report on Star this week and did not make a recommendation on Star’s suitability to hold a licence, but Attorney General Shannon Fentiman said that considering the seriousness of the findings she believed the company was unsuitable to hold a licence in Queensland.

Fentiman said the Government supported in principle all of Gotterson’s findings.

Among the most damaging of the former Supreme Court judge’s findings was that Star prioritised money making over anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls.

Under the recommendations, a wide range of controls will be brought in to govern casinos, including those in Townsville and Cairns where no allegations of wrongdoing were raised in the inquiry.

The findings are a massive blow to the company and its casino operations and will now mean legislation covering its $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf casino resort development will be changed to give Parliament greater regulation and power over the casino.

Fentiman said that following the show cause process, a range of remedial actions would be open to the Government including fines, suspension or cancelling the company’s licences and appointing a special manager.

Star was hit with a similar finding of unsuitability in the NSW Bell Inquiry and its rival, Crown Casinos, was also found unsuitable in other states.

The Queensland Government will also lift the potential penalties for wrongdoing that can be imposed on a casino to $100 million from $60 million. Legislation will also be changed to allow for a special manager to increase supervision and integrity of operations and carry out periodic investigations into the suitability of all Queensland casinos.

Gotterson delivered 12 findings including that Star “actively encouraged persons excluded at the direction of police commissioners in NSW and Victoria to gamble in Queensland”.

It also found that Parliament “should not be fettered in its capacity to impose controls on casinos or to compensate them in any way for having done so”.

Gotterson said the company’s actions to allow banned gamblers into its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos showed “a poor corporate culture, a failure of those responsible for anti-money laundering program to intervene and a senior management that failed to have in place mechanisms to restrain the actions of a marketing team whose focus was drawing in business.

Gotterson said its anti-money laundering controls were “seriously deficient”.

“This all placed the Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane casinos at real jeopardy of infiltration by persons about whom Star had reason to suspect were likely to have been involved in criminality,” Gotterson said.

He also said Star was at worst deliberately misleading about its use of China Union Pay credit cards to disguise gambling withdrawals as accommodation costs.

Among his recommendations was the introduction of mandatory carded play which requires the use of identity to be linked to a gambling card. Also cashless gambling for $1000 or less would be imposed and there would also be a setting of limits on gaming machines.

The cards would hold data on gamblers and allow for proper supervision. A mandatory code of conduct for safer gambling should also be imposed.

A supervision levy would also be imposed on casinos to fund the special manager.

Star said it was considering the findings of the report and the matters raised by Gotterson. It said it would continue to work co-operatively with the Queensland regulator, the Officer and Liquor and Gaming Regulation.