Mystery surrounds secret study into the impact of Queen’s Wharf casino

A major study into the long-term impacts of Brisbane’s new casino development has collapsed amid Queensland government secrecy and delays.

The research by the Queensland University of Technology would have allowed for the detailed tracking of the social and economic effects of Queen’s Wharf Brisbane over time.

The Queensland government has seemingly abandoned a long-term study into the impact of Queen’s Wharf casino on the community.Credit: Rhett Hammerton

But for reasons that remain unclear, the project has ended prematurely and without any findings being released. QUT said some of the work would be advanced independently by PhD students, while Queen’s Wharf would also feature in a larger “Monitoring Major Infrastructure” study.

The city-changing “integrated resort” will start to welcome patrons from April next year.

The state has wasted at least $2 million on the study by not following through or formally considering two voluminous reports that were completed in 2019 but never released, including an investigation into gambling impacts.

Brisbane Times can reveal the QUT researchers were passionate about continuing the work, but deeply concerned with the government-imposed secrecy.

Long before the study evaporated, QUT professor Kerrie Mengersen wrote to then-minister Kate Jones in April 2020 requesting permission to release the two completed elements.

“Failure to publicly release the reports is creating an unjustified climate of suspicion which is injurious to the [government], QUT and the QWB project,” Mengersen said.

Jones, who retired from politics before the 2020 state election, has been approached for comment.

The finished phase one and two reports were mostly baseline studies on topics such as tourism, business, safety, public sentiment and gambling. More data, which would have been compared with the baseline reports, was meant to be collected for years after QWB opened and show its impact on the community.

“With the possible exception of the gambling study, it is difficult to conjecture how this information could be of concern,” Mengersen wrote to Jones.

“The gambling report from Phase One was discussed with the Gambling Impact Advisory Committee … [which] strongly supported timely public release of all results related to gambling.”

At the time, Mengersen described the Longitudinal Benefits and Impacts Study, as it was called, as a “fantastic innovation” and a “tribute to the [government’s] long-term vision”.

So significant was the work for both QUT and Brisbane, the university announced it as a “flagship project” during the opening of its Centre for Data Science in November 2019. The secrecy may have contributed to its demise.

Mengersen warned it would be a “loss and a disgrace” if QUT was unable to fund future phases of the study, “given the promises made about the project and financial commitment already made”.

“QUT has a reputation of integrity, independence and public duty,” she wrote. “It is difficult to see how we can continue with a project like the LBIS if we are not able to provide any results [to potential investors] in a timely manner.”

The letter, obtained through the Right to Information Act, provided other options if the government continued to block the full release of the reports. One was for the release of “summaries” that removed any underpinning data that might be regarded as commercially sensitive.

That approach was supported by the relevant government department - but seemingly not the executive - in a separate 2021 document.

“This advice remains current,” it wrote, in a document available on the RTI disclosure log.

The document was unsigned, and it was unclear if it ever made it to Steven Miles, who was the minister responsible in 2021 and remains so today.

Miles did not respond to questions about whether he had seen the department’s advice or Mengersen’s letter.

The completed reports remain locked away, unable to be released by QUT, and, so far, out of reach of RTI requests.

The 2021 document noted that the research would “cease at its current stage” if the companies behind the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf project, Destination Brisbane Consortium (DBC), chose not to provide any more funding.

Yet DBC, which includes Star Entertainment, told this masthead it had “no role” in the study.

Responding to only some of Brisbane Times′ questions, the government and QUT both lamented the interference of COVID-19.

The government confirmed it was no longer interested in QUT’s work and would instead focus on its own gambling initiatives and legislation.

The reports of 2019 were now “dated”, according to a department spokesman. This was because ministers could not consider it in 2020 “due to the government’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The “dated” claim cannot be tested by media or independent researchers because the government has never released the reports.

In its 2021 ministerial briefing note, the department was still enthusiastic about the QUT research, and warned that if it was ever abandoned the government might have to “rely solely upon advice from DBC” about its performance.

DBC is headed by the disgraced Star Entertainment. Another DBC company, Chow Tai Fook, is under investigation for its alleged connections to Asian crime figures.

The department spokesman said the government was now focused on implementing its Gambling Harm Minimisation Plan and strengthening legislation, regulation and industry partnerships.

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