The extreme outcome for Star would be that it loses its licence to operate its casinos in Queensland. That would seem to be the nuclear option for the Palaszczuk Government and there would be issues for it in doing that, like finding someone else to run it, other than a special manager.

On the horizon are some pretty harrowing possibilities for Star, including its former directors, but they aren’t the only ones to be hit by flak from the Gotterson inquiry.

The Government also has to deal with the fall out and has only said it agreed “in principle” to the recommendations from the Gotterson inquiry. That gives it enough wriggle room to not blindly follow Gotterson’s recommendations.

But it has to figure out how broadly to impose some of the recommendations like identity cards for gamblers as well as time limits for gaming machines. Will pubs and clubs be dragged into this, as well? After all, problem gamblers are not exclusive to casinos.

Just how the as-yet unopened Queen’s Wharf casino will be affected is up in the air but Parliament was likely to get more of a say there.

Fentiman said that in relation to the Queen’s Wharf Financial Commitment Agreement regulatory restrictions and compensation clauses, Gotterson noted “that the State legislature should not be fettered in its capacity to impose controls on casinos or compensate them in any way for having done so”.

That appears to change the dynamics of Queen’s Wharf, but as yet we don’t know the detail of how the Government will respond or what Star says on the matter.

But first of all, Star has to get through the “show cause” period and convince the Government that it has acted to clean up its operations to the extent that it can be trusted to continue to operate in the state.

Given the massive changes and the purge of its board and senior executive ranks that is a possibility and the reason the Government recently introduced fines for casinos that breached the law was to give it an alternative to taking away the licence.

The corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) are still probing away at Star. Then there is the possibility of a special manager being appointed with as yet undefined powers and Fentiman has said everything is on the table.

“ASIC can confirm an investigation into The Star and its board commenced in March 2022,” the commission said in a statement.

“ASIC has been closely following the inquiry into The Star as well as carefully considering the evidence before it, its findings and The Star’s response to those findings.

“ASIC’s investigation into The Star continues, and therefore ASIC will not be commenting further on this matter at this time.”

AUSTRAC has previously won cases against the banks over money laundering breaches which have ended up in fines of more than $1 billion, which would be nightmare prospect for the casino giant. However, Star is not anywhere near as big as NAB and the others.

When Robbie Cooke takes over the reins at Star, the former Queenslander will have a huge job on his hands.