Public hearings into Star Entertainment’s suitability to hold a casino licence in Queensland will get underway on Thursday.
Attorney-general Shannon Fentiman ordered the probe into the casino operator after a NSW inquiry heard allegations of money laundering and fraudulent activity at Star Entertainment’s venues in NSW.
The Queensland review, headed by former justice Robert Gotterson, will examine Star Entertainment and its casino licences in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Star management and staff will be called to give evidence and findings from the long-running review in NSW into Star Sydney will also be reviewed.
The probe will also examine Star’s commitment to anti-money laundering responsibilities, management of high rollers and the use of China UnionPay bank cards to facilitate gambling by Chinese nationals despite currency restrictions.
It will investigate Star’s approach to harm minimisation, including whether it’s fit for purpose.
A focus on the management of exclusions will take a particular interest in patrons excluded from The Star Sydney at the direction of NSW police, and whether they were encouraged to attend Queensland casinos.
Star has also been called to give evidence at a parliamentary committee probe into proposed gambling and money laundering laws in Queensland.
Star Entertainment’s interim boss Geoff Hogg told the committee on Monday he was “not aware” of the casino operator paying any fines for its breaches of Queensland’s laws over the last five years.
However, Mr Hogg admitted there had been “a number of minor breaches” since 2017.
He says most of those breaches have been incidents such as patron exclusion or “a staff error on tables”.
Star Entertainment is building its $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf resort and casino development in Brisbane, expected to open in 2023.
The review will report to the attorney-general by September 30.
© AAP 2022
