Star Entertainment ‘unfit’ to hold Queensland casino licences

Gambling giant Star Entertainment has been slammed by the Attorney-General as unsuitable to hold casino licences in Queensland.

Gambling giant Star Entertainment is unsuited to hold casino licences in Queensland, the Attorney-General has declared, saying it has “embarked on a program of literally having a one-eyed focus on profit”, following the bombshell findings of an independent report.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, handing down the Gotterson report into Star Entertainment, said she had “formed the view that The Star is unsuitable to hold a licence in Queensland”.

Ms Fentiman said the state government will now prepare a show cause notice to be handed down to Star.

“Once that show cause notice is issued, which I expect will take a couple of weeks, Star will have 21-days in which to respond then there is a range of options available,” the Attorney-General said.

Former Justice Robert Gotterson KC, in his more than 170-page report, found there were reasons for authorities to deem the gaming giant unsuitable to hold a licence.

A show cause notice will be issued to The Star.

Ms Fentiman said the government will wait on the response from Star from the show cause process, while the state government is also considering amendments to legislation to provide options for its unsuitability to hold a license.

“Star embarked on a program of literally having a one-eyed focus on profit,” the Attorney-General said.

“Not being truthful with the regulator, not taking their responsibilities around gambling harm and money-laundering as seriously as they should.

“(These are) pretty alarming and damning findings.”

Star Entertainment, in a statement, stated it was “currently considering the report and the matters raised by Mr Gotterson and will continue to work cooperatively with OLGR”.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

The findings are expected to rattle the major development in central Brisbane of the casino at the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf.

“Star are the major partner in the joint-venture agreement which have the casino license for the Queen’s Wharf, so obviously a finding of unsuitability does of course have implications for the casino license for Queen’s Wharf but there is a show process to go through and then a range of options available to government,” she said.

“If Star are unsuitable to hold a license, government will look at someone else to hold that license.

“The recommendations very sensibly, from Mr Gotterson, would allow us to put in a special manager – that’s what we’ve seen in Victoria.”

The state government has limited options to replace Star with a local licensed operator, given the other major casino group, Crown, has faced similar investigations and damning findings.

“There has been deliberate behaviour by casinos in this country,” Ms Fentiman said.

“It doesn’t matter what form the regulator was – whether it’s NSW or Victoria or WA – these casinos have not been transparent, they have misled regulators, and they have not taken their corporate social responsibilities seriously.

“I’m still pretty shocked this is the behaviour of The Star here in Queensland and we will be taking it very seriously.”

Queen’s Wharf is earmarked to host a Star casino when completed. Picture: The Star Entertainment Group

Ms Fentiman said the government has the ability to force the casino group to be run by a “special manager” who can ensure the group is adhering to suitable conduct.

A total of 12 recommendations were made as part of the report, with the government supporting all of them “in principle”.

While expressing her disgust with the behaviour of the casino group and the findings from the report, the Attorney-General said it is “not a foregone conclusion about what the penalties will be”.

“The Star does, under the legislation, have an opportunity (through) natural justice to put forward a case about what should happen next,” Ms Fentiman said.

“But it is open to government to cancel their license.”

Mr Gotterson said it wasn’t his role to determine the suitability or unsuitability of Star holding a casino license in Queensland.

But the findings from both the state-run review and similar interstate inquiries revealed the underlying issues with the casino group made it appropriate for the Attorney-General to decide it was unsuitable to hold a casino license.

Among the recommendations from the review, Mr Gotterson also advised the government to focus on gambling harm mitigation.

“Things like carded play and cashless gaming (are) directed and also matters relating to the integrity of casino operations, particularly anti-money laundering,” he said.

Mr Gotterson, in his report, said Star had a “poor corporate culture” and those in-charge of preventing and mitigating money laundering had failed in their responsibility.

He said the findings revealed Star was “indifferent” towards its dealings with the gambling regulator, who he described as “vigilant” in its commitment to pursue the casino giant’s conduct.

Star Entertainment Group's Star Gold Coast site.

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

Ms Fentiman said making sure Queensland casinos operate lawfully was a priority for the government.

“Considering the serious and concerning findings of the Gotterson Review and his advice regarding suitability, I have formed the view that The Star is unsuitable to hold a licence in Queensland,” she said.

“In accordance with the legislation, once a formal determination of unsuitability is made, The Star will be given the opportunity to respond to that finding through a show cause process.

Star operates Treasury Brisbane, among other casinos in Queensland. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled,

“Following the show cause process, a range of remedial actions will be available to government including fines, suspending or cancelling licences, and as recommended by Mr Gotterson, appointing a special manager, as has been done in Victoria.”

The show cause process is understood to be 21 days long.

Ms Fentiman revealed the government had also decided to raise the maximum penalty imposed on a casino to be $100m

The former Justice was quizzed about the review’s exclusion of investigating the lobbying procedures of Star, particularly through a Labor Party-aligned lobby firm.

But Mr Gotterson said the inquiry was tasked with focusing on “operational matters”, which he said didn’t include lobbying.

“The other thing too is what I think I was asked to do was forward-looking, getting The Star back to conforming with the laws regime and monitored so that will happen in the future,” he said.

“It didn’t have a focus on what happened in the past.”

Mr Gotterson said he had “absolutely no idea” if it was appropriate or not for the state government to be engaged by lobbying on behalf of the beleaguered gambling giant.

Greens MP Michael Berkman said the “dodgy mega-casino” should never have been approved to hold a casino license in Queensland, and urged the state government to cancel Star’s license.

“They should also finally release the details of deals with Star and consortium partners, including the casino licence, 99-year lease, community impact statement, consultation reports, cost-benefit analysis or business case, the probity checks,” he said.

“The government should tell us whether they’ve signed anything that prevents them from cancelling Star’s license, and how on earth they got us into this mess.”

Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek, whose electorate takes in The Star, said the casino was “a very important business” for the Gold Coast but it had to be run properly.

“It’s a very important part of my electorate and the Gold Coast economy but it’s imperative that all the laws are followed and things need to be done correctly,” he said.

“The concerns that have been raised need to be addressed by the company. The Labor Government seems to have been very, very slow off the mark in doing anything about it.”

The Attorney-General said the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation will now be given access to the findings but it does not have the ability to criminally prosecute the company. The regulatory body will finalise its own report into the embattled group and pass information to Queensland Police Service as well as other more powerful national regulatory bodies, including AUSTRAC.

The state government has the power to direct the company to repair its operations and face fines for its conduct, with the more extreme measure being a suspension or cancellation of the casino license.