Star inquiry: Executives face another day of grilling at inquiry into gambling giant’s Qld operations

A gambler flown to Queensland in a private jet was given free betting vouchers by Star casino staff after he lost a jawdropping $450,000 in just 20 minutes.

Star Entertainment Group executives are facing another day of grilling as day two of the inquiry into the gambling giant’s Queensland operations continues.

Led by retired Supreme Court judge Robert Gotterson, the operator behind the $3b Queen’s Wharf development is facing questions over the ongoing suitability to hold a casino licence in the state, regulation and the operations of Star’s Queensland casinos.

High-roller’s $450k loss in 20 minutes

The inquiry into Star Entertainment Group’s Queensland casino operations has resumed for the afternoon, with Star Entertainment Group President Domestic and International Marketing Chris Peasley back giving evidence.

The court is hearing of a situation where a gambler known as “Person 1” lost $450,000 in just 20 minutes.

An email exchange between members of the sales team, shown to the court, says Person 1 was “very angry as expected” and some free betting vouchers were being arranged for the player.

The court heard Person 1 was allowed to travel on the company’s private jet to the Gold Coast Star casino on two occasions, October 2019 and December 2020, despite being already banned from the Sydney Star.

It has been put to Mr Peasley that such offerings, along with a $52,000 Rolex watch, were to induce the person to travel to Queensland.

Mr Peasley said in terms of sticking to the company’s own exclusion policy, “there had been failing from the get go”.

“Looking at the exclusion policy, I would say we were not inline with the policy,” he said.

“We thought we were recognising loyalty.

“The mere fact Person 1 was able to be part of the loyalty program was an inducement or an incentive.”

Mr Horton also listed some of the benefits Person 1 one was gifted by the Star during his time gambling at the company’s Queensland casinos.

They included business class airfares to the state, limousines transfers, “very many” dinners, tickets to John Farnham and The Village People, two trips in the private jet, accommodation upgrades for himself and friends, gift cards and the $52,000 Rolex watch.

Mr Peasley has finished giving his evidence.

Star Entertainment Group General Manager (Anti-Money Launder/Counter Terrorism Financing Compliance) Howard Steiner will give evidence next.

Banned gambler was to be treated ‘the same as any other customer’

A high-rolling gambler banned from the Sydney Star casino by the NSW Police Commissioner on suspicion of criminal activity was flown by private jet to Queensland to gamble and gifted a $52,000 Rolex, an inquiry into the entertainment giant has heard.

Mr Peasley admitted he was aware the man - known as Person 1 - had been banned from the Sydney Star in about 2007.

Regardless, he said Star’s anti-money laundering team advised that Person 1 - a top gambler at the Gold Coast casino - should be treated as “any other player” of value.

“We were told that the customer can come to the (Gold Coast) property, can receive the benefits of the program, we can book him into rooms, if he requests to attend an event he can attend an event,” he said.

But he said the team was told not to do anything to “pursue” the gambler.

On whether the patron had been flown by private jet on two occasions, Mr Peasley said he was on leave at the time of the first flight, but became aware when a second flight was requested, and ultimately approved.

The Star on the Gold Coast. Picture: Mike Batterham

Asked by counsel assisting the inquiry Jonathan Horton QC whether gifting a $52,000 Rolex to the patron for his birthday was “pursuing him”, Mr Peasley said it was in recognition of the punter’s long association with the casino.

But Mr Peasley also admitted the anti-money laundering team would not have been told about the watch.

Asked whether he was worried about a player banned from the NSW casino over suspicion of criminal activity being incentivised to travel to Queensland, Mr Peasley said “I wouldn’t say it caused worry, it caused concern, and that’s why I had reached out to the specialist (anti-money laundering) team,” he said.

Emails shown to the court also revealed Person 1 was given more than $30,000 in “comp” after a gambling spree saw him lose close to $900,000 ($885,000) in just three months.

Mr Horton suggested the additional funds were a means of the casino ensuring the patron did not have a negative experience and would continue to gamble at the casino.

Mr Peasley said it was to ensure the casino was “managing our customer base correctly”.

Star admits holdup in facial recognition technology rollout

The manager of Star’s responsible gaming department has admitted there has been an unexplained holdup in the rollout of facial recognition technology, which has been proven effective against problem gamblers, as flaws in identifying at-risk patrons have been revealed.

Group Manager (responsible gambling) Junior Toleafoa resumed giving evidence on Wednesday morning, saying that despite more than 6800 people being excluded from the Star’s two Queensland casinos – including more than 1000 problem gamblers who have self excluded – Mr Toleafoa admitted the system largely relies on staff observing patrons.

Facial recognition technology is being planned for the Star Gold Coast, Mr Toleafoa said, but he said he did not know what the “holdup” was in implementing it.

Ms Hellewell put to him since the Sydney Star deployed facial recognition technology several years ago, eight to 10 times more self-excluded people have been identified.

She wanted to know why it hasn’t been made a priority.

Mr Toleafoa said he didn’t know the specifics of why Queensland hadn’t implemented the technology.

Junior Toleafoa has faced questions for a second day. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Toleafoa was asked why the casino giant doesn’t allow people to self-exclude from gambling via an online form, to which he said it hadn’t been explored before but they want to make it easier, and the suggestion has come up in the company’s new strategy.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Ms Hellewell asked Mr Toleafoa about the number of people who are excluded from the company’s casinos.

“About 6800 people are excluded – roughly 3400 at each casino,” Mr Toleafoa said.

She put to Mr Toleafoa that if patrons gamble “uncarded”, it would be harder for staff to identify them.

“It’s impossible for a staff member to accurately remember 3400 people, isn’t it?,” Ms Hellewell asked.

Mr Toleafoa conceded it was.

“And at this stage that’s the only method if a player plays uncarded, for identification?” she asked, to which he answered yes.

Close to 300,000 visitors went to the Treasury Brisbane casino in July. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

12-hour limit: Gambling time limits change

Mr Toleafoa said the time limits for gamblers had changed just this week.

He said under the new policy, which began on Monday, patrons who have been gambling for 11 hours are told to start preparing to leave.

“We would expect that person to leave before they reach 12 hours,” he said.

Ms Hellewell said if that player wasn’t using a loyalty card, they wouldn’t be flagged as staying over time. Mr Toleafoa said that was correct.

Me Hellewell said her figures show about 296,000 visitors went to the Treasury Brisbane casino in July, and about 373,000 to the Gold Coast.

She put to Mr Toleafoa, it would be a very difficult task to identify uncarded at-risk gamblers by observation alone – given the volume of visitors.

He conceded “it is difficult … it is a challenging task”.

Mr Toleafoa was asked about risk indicators outlined in Star’s policy. Under the policy, one to four risk indicators require a staff member to “observe and report”.

“I could be gambling every day of the week, I could be spending all available time or money on gambling, I could be displaying anger … looking sad and crying, and I could not have any money for meal or transport,” Ms Hellewell says.

“I could have all those indicators and all the Star policy says is a staff member should report and observe, is that correct?”

Mr Toleafoa said that was correct.

An earlier witness was critical of casinos using language such as “gaming”, “players” and “play”, saying it misrepresented and downplayed gambling harm.

Mr Toleafoa said responsible gambling should be a shared responsibility between staff.

He likened it to occupational health and safety, where everyone has a role.

The five-day inquiry has so far heard from multiple witnesses who suffered hardship due to gambling addictions, and that Star’s Queensland casinos do not always have staff rostered to assist and monitor potential problem gamblers.