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The high-stakes game being played for the future of Queen’s Wharf

By Courtney Kruk

Is Queen’s Wharf really too big to fail? We might be close to finding out.

In the past month, co-owner and casino operator the Star Entertainment Group has declared it only has $79 million left in the bank, and is asking its lenders for more money.

Revenue fell 15 per cent in the last quarter. Administration, followed by a potential fire sale, is looking more likely by the day.

Star says it is spending $35 million a month to keep operations in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney rolling. With less than $79 million in the bank, time is not on the group’s side.

Star says it is spending $35 million a month to keep operations in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney rolling. With less than $79 million in the bank, time is not on the group’s side. Credit: Courtney Kruk

Star has casinos in Sydney, on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. If the rules around problem gambling were applied to the business, its feverish desperation would not have gone unnoticed on the gaming floor.

Star chief executive Steve McCann has asked the Queensland and NSW governments to consider a tax break on gaming revenue. NSW Premier Chris Minns was firm that the state had other priorities.

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Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has toed a careful line, repeatedly promising to protect staff while ensuring the LNP is not seen to be propping up a casino operator.

But separating the everyday staff from the “corporate suits”, as Crisafulli describes Star bosses, is not so simple. This week his rhetoric shifted, ever so slightly, to broader terms about their business.

“We’ll have lots of conversations [about relief] provided they’re focused on keeping people in work,” Crisafulli said on Tuesday of Queen’s Wharf.

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“And that involves that building remaining open and for it to be able to serve the purpose that it was initially set up for … our focus now is only on the workers and continuing that operation.”

Do you remember what Queen’s Wharf was initially set up for?

Queen’s Wharf was originally slated to open in 2022. The delayed core opening in 2023 was then pushed to August, 2024.

Queen’s Wharf was originally slated to open in 2022. The delayed core opening in 2023 was then pushed to August, 2024. Credit: AFR

More than a decade ago, the Newman LNP government put forward a vision to revitalise “a tired and underutilised area of Brisbane’s CBD”.

“We have an opportunity for a new, unique and vibrant precinct at Brisbane’s heart with diverse architecture and activities, new and renewed public spaces and greater access to and use of the heritage buildings,” then-deputy premier and state development minister Jeff Seeney said in 2013.

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Two years later, the Destination Brisbane Consortium, a joint venture comprised of Star and its Hong Kong-based partners Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, won the bid to develop Queen’s Wharf.

What came next under the Palaszczuk-Miles Labor government (and a pandemic) is well-documented: two significant delays to open, a billion-dollar-plus budget blowout, and contract and payment disputes.

A decade after Queen’s Wharf was given the green light, we’re debating whether it will fold before it even fully opens.

Until this point, the backers of Queen’s Wharf have downplayed the major artery at the core of its precinct. It’s not a casino, they’ve insisted, it’s an integrated resort; a development that will draw 1.4 million visitors a year, bring in billions in tourism dollars and cement Brisbane on international radars in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games.

When I included the project in a preview article last year, accurately depicting it as a gambling hub, Star quickly retorted that the casino comprised only 5 per cent in area of the $3.6 billion precinct (behind the scenes, much of the other 95 per cent was under a cloud).

It’s no secret the new gaming lounge is a massive eclipse of the beer-stained, Tarocash lined halls of the former Brisbane Treasury.

Star’s financial challenges put that 5 per cent back in the spotlight. How much was it expected to contribute to the precinct’s overall revenue and success, and has that now changed?

While Star was never obliged to disclose how much more it expected to rake in from its new casino, it’s no secret the new gaming lounge eclipses the beer-stained, Tarocash-lined halls of the former Brisbane Treasury. It’s a world-class facility positioned to attract world-class spending.

For a period, Star leant into the promise of that international market, making Brisbane more of a drawcard. It changed tack after the pandemic, shifting from high rollers to the luxury tourism market. When Star reported a 10 per cent drop in revenue for Treasury casino in Brisbane last February, it reiterated to the state government its casino patrons would now largely be locals, rather than the international tourists initially claimed.

Who exactly rescues Star from its fate is unclear, but it’s hard to imagine a politician letting the project fail after what the city has staked on its success – even with a casino at its core.

Who exactly rescues Star from its fate is unclear, but it’s hard to imagine a politician letting the project fail after what the city has staked on its success – even with a casino at its core. Credit: Courtney Kruk

The old Treasury casino’s poker machines made an average of $372 a day. The new Queen’s Wharf casino was approved for 2500 poker machines – 1000 more than The Star in Sydney, and 768 more than the old Treasury (though only about 1500 machines are currently operational).

How much they hoped locals would spend, whether in the gaming lounge or elsewhere in the resort, is another unknown. But circumstances have not favoured Star.

The initial opening was not without teething issues, likely contributing to lower-than-expected patronage. Research shows punters prefer online gambling and betting apps to the gaming floor.

Which brings us back to the question: is Queen’s Wharf too big to fail?

There are positives out of the development – a revitalised riverfront precinct and some of the best restaurateurs in the city (who were given major rent concessions in expectation of better times). And we have been promised more: two luxury resorts, residential apartment towers, food and beverage outlets, a retail precinct throughout the restored heritage buildings, and whatever comes of the Treasury Hotel building.

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But at the moment, local gamblers are largely keeping the place running, and taxpayers are being asked to keep the doors open.

Yet, after what consecutive governments have wagered on the development – 10 per cent of the CBD (including government buildings long-since demolished), a prime riverfront position, 99-year leases on the heritage buildings, and, according to the backers, the city’s international reputation – it’s hard to imagine a gamble on anything but success.

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Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/queensland/the-high-stakes-game-being-played-for-the-future-of-queen-s-wharf-20250120-p5l5va.html