Star chairman John O’Neill quits

Amid a board exodus, Star Entertainment’s John O’Neill has tendered his resignation as executive chairman while the embattled casino group continues to search for a new CEO.

John O'Neill has tendered his resignation. Picture: David Clark

Star Entertainment’s John O’Neill has tendered his resignation as executive chairman and will also step down from the board.

The embattled casino group said Mr O’Neill’s departure date was “yet to be agreed”.

“Mr O’Neill informed fellow directors late today of his decision,” the company said in an announcement after the market had closed on Friday.

“Mr O’Neill will transition his chair and executive responsibilities in an orderly manner.”

The former chief executive of Australian Rugby Union and State Bank of NSW has helmed the Star board for almost 10 years.

He was appointed to the executive chairman role at Star on an interim basis on April 1 following the resignation of chief executive Matt Bekier on March 28.

Star said interim arrangements would be announced “once finalised” and that a search for a permanent chief executive had started last month.

Mr O’Neill’s resignation has been expected and comes amid a board and management exodus following damning revelations in an explosive royal-commission style inquiry into the casino group in New South Wales.

Mr O’Neill had been scheduled to give evidence at the inquiry — headed by Adam Bell SC to determine Star’s fitness to hold a NSW casino licence — on Monday this week but did not. The hearing was then postponed until next week.

Star Entertainment’s outgoing executive chairman John O'Neill. Picture: Jerad Williams

Star’s reputation has been battered by revelations at the inquiry, which began in March.

The inquiry has heard Star disguised almost $1bn in suspicious gambling transactions on Chinese debit cards as hotel charges – misleading NAB, China Union Pay and ultimately the bank of China – during a seven-year period, and senior management “hid” material compliance breaches from directors.

It has also been revealed that the company continued to deal with patrons with links to Chinese criminal gangs, potentially underpaid NSW gambling taxes, sent fake documentation to Chinese banks and repeatedly rebuffed requests from Austrac for a copy of a damning report from KPMG into Star’s anti-money laundering program.

Director Sally Pitkin told the inquiry on May 13 that she would resign from the board at the end of the financial year, following fellow Queensland director Gerard Bradley’s decision to step down a day earlier.

Katie Lahey, who has been on Star’s board since 2013, also announced she would step down as soon as “new directors become available”.

Dr Pitkin told the inquiry that there is “a recognition that a new board needs to lead the company through the reform process into the future”.

“There is a shared understanding of that at board level and I offered to my colleagues to be the first director to step down from the board,” she told the inquiry last week. “I anticipate that will happen by the end of the financial year and then other directors will leave when it’s appropriate for the company.

“The board in the meantime has to be governing and overseeing the company in the best way it can. There are personnel changes and things that can’t happen as quickly as they would in a non-regulated entity.”

Star board member Sally Pitkin giving evidence before the inquiry on May 13.

Most of Star’s senior management team have already left the company, including chief financial officer Harry Theodore, chief legal and risk officer Paula Martin and NSW chief casino officer Greg Hawkins.

“The board has brought in some independent external people and put them into the organisation to oversee critical areas to manage risk,” Dr Pitkin said last week. “There is a program of work underway in terms of identifying these people have given evidence before this review and their employment arrangements.

“The board has started with the most senior people first and it’s working its way down the list.”

When Ms Lahey was recently asked at the inquiry how Star’s culture failed, she accused executives of a “group think”.

“There was a degree of complacency,” Ms Lahey, who is chair of Star’s people culture and social responsibility committee, told the inquiry. “A lot of our senior managers have worked together for 15, 16, 17 years. Perhaps there was a group think.

“Perhaps some people have been promoted beyond their level of competency.”