Queensland authorities issue $100M fine to Star Entertainment

The Star Entertainment Group has been fined $100 million by the Queensland authorities due to a Gotterson report that highlighted “major failings” in how the company is operated.

The authorities have also deemed them unfit to own a license and have given them a timeframe of one year to right the shortcomings they have been reprimanded for.

According to Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, who announced the penalty for the company on Friday, other operators should be mindful of their activities and ensure they do not violate Queensland’s guidelines, or else they will face legal consequences.

“Today we are sending a very clear message that unlawful and criminal behaviour will not be tolerated in Queensland casinos,” she said. “These disciplinary actions aim to strike a balance between ensuring that thousands of Queenslanders can remain employed, but also sending that very strong message that what happened here in Star casinos is completely unacceptable.”

Fentiman also noted that, if Star Entertainment fails to cooperate within the 12-month period, the operator will risk a seizure of their operational license in the jurisdiction.

“Essentially this means Star has 12 months to get their house in order if they don’t want to see a 90-day suspension of their licence,” Ms Fentiman explained The licence holder for Queen’s Wharf has not been issued a show cause because they’re not operational, but if Star are not suitable by the time they want to open their doors there will be significant conditions placed on their license.”

Fentiman said the Queensland authorities also designated a new manager, Nicholas Weekes, of Wexted Advisors, to oversee the activities of the company for the time being.

“I think given that Star really is the one company, it makes sense for the special manager to be working across New South Wales and Queensland. In addition, we will have a manager assisting Mr Weeks here in Queensland – Terri Hamilton – a very experienced individual,” she said.

“So, I think between the two of them, they will have oversight into all operations of Star. I know they will begin by doing a root-cause analysis about how these unlawful and criminal acts came to happen in casinos.”

The Star Entertainment issued a statement in response to the sanction that was placed against them. The company revealed that it was committed to regaining the confidence of Queensland.

“We are committed to doing everything in our power to earn back the trust and confidence of the community,” Star’s spokeswoman said. “That includes all our regulators, our 8,000-plus team members and our almost 75,000 shareholders.”

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