Review into Star Casino gets powers of a royal commission
An inquiry into the company behind Brisbane’s multibillion-dollar Queen’s Wharf development has been given royal-commission-style powers by the state’s Attorney-General.
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The gaming company behind Brisbane’s multibillion-dollar Queen’s Wharf development will face an inquiry with royal-commission-style powers investigating potential wrongdoing.
The probe into gambling giant The Star Entertainment Group’s casino operations in Queensland will be led by a retired Supreme Court judge, Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman announced on Thursday.
Ms Fentiman said the review would examine the company’s anti-money laundering practices, management of high-rollers, and facilitation of Chinese gamblers.
The Attorney-General said the external independent review into the operations of The Star Gold Coast and the Treasury casinos would be led by former judge Robert Gotterson, with the review’s terms of reference also announced.
Among the raft of issues Mr Gotterson had been tasked with examining was whether patrons who had been excluded from The Star Sydney by the NSW police commissioner had been actively incentivised to gamble at the company’s Queensland casinos.
The independent probe, first flagged earlier this month, would have “all the powers, authorities, rights, privileges, protection and jurisdiction of a commission of inquiry,” Ms Fentiman said.
This would include Mr Gotterson being permitted to interview and directly question Star employees, as well as review the evidence and findings of the NSW’s Bell Review and ongoing investigations by the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation.
“There have been serious allegations made, along with a number of public inquiries and regulator investigations over recent years,” Ms Fentiman said.
“Given the weight of evidence that has emerged regarding the operations of The Star Sydney and the shared governance and operational arrangements of Star Group more broadly, it is important the inquiry can seek information from anyone it sees fit.”
Star Group is the lead partner of the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf development – due to open in the first half of next year – which was set to house a new, purpose-built casino in replacement of the existing Treasury Casino.
Included in the terms of reference was the examination of Star Group’s commitment to anti-money laundering responsibilities including detection and prevention, the management of VIPs and international high rollers, and the company’s approach to gambling harm minimisation.
Use of China UnionPay credit or debit card facilities to facilitate gambling by Chinese nationals was also included.
A spokeswoman for The Star Entertainment Group said “The Star will fully co-operate with any review”.
Ms Fentiman said the government was determined to ensure Queensland casinos were operated ethically, lawfully and at the highest standard of integrity, saying a further $4m over four years would be invested to fund “additional specialist audit resources dedicated to monitoring casino compliance”.
“This will complement existing onsite casino inspection resources, providing more comprehensive regulatory oversight,” she said.
Mr Gotterson would be assisted by QC Jonathan Horton, with Ms Fentiman saying Mr Horton was a specialist in public and regulatory law who had conducted a review of The Star Casino’s licence in 2016.
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Originally published as Review into Star Casino gets powers of a royal commission
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