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The Star Entertainment Group’s (ASX: SGR) has three weeks to respond to the state’s Attorney-General after the operating companies of its two Queensland properties were officially handed show cause notices to save their casino licences.
The show cause notices, which were issued late yesterday, come on the heels of Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman last month declaring The Star as unsuitable to hold a casino licence following the release of the Gotterson report.
The review conducted by Robert Gotterson KC in July this year revealed major failings in The Star’s operations at The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane casinos similar to those of the Bell inquiry in NSW.
“The notices issued today provide these entities with the opportunity to show cause as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against them,” says the announcement by the Attorney-General.
The Star has until 25 November 2022 to issue its response which will determine the government’s disciplinary action against the company.
“While it is important that we do not pre-empt the outcomes of these show cause notices, new legislation ensures the government has a range of disciplinary options available following that process, including increased fines of up to $100 million and the appointment of a special manager,” says the Attorney-General.
The Star last month was hit by a $100 million fine by the NSW Independent Casino Commission and an expert advisor was appointed as manager of The Star Sydney’s casino licence in the wake of the Bell inquiry.
Fentiman slammed The Star last month as she released details of the Gotterson report, saying the adverse findings reflected on The Star’s ‘repute, character, integrity and honesty’ and that the company’s actions ‘were indicative of a one-eyed focus on profit’.
The Attorney-General last week released details of the Queensland subsidiaries that would be issued with show cause notices. These included the individual licensees of the Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast casinos.
Also included were The Star Entertainment Brisbane Operations Pty Ltd, the entity that will operate The Star Brisbane when completed, and The Star Entertainment DBC Holdings Pty Ltd, which holds The Star’s 50 per cent interest in the Destination Brisbane Consortium, developer of the $3 billion Queens’s Wharf project.
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