Queensland's gambling regulator is facing questions over its licence approval for the new Star Brisbane casino two days before Star Entertainment Group was again ruled unsuitable to run a casino in New South Wales.
The ABC learned last night the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) received the second Bell report last Thursday — the same day The Star Brisbane opened its doors and a day before the report was released publicly by the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC).
The second Bell report declared that Star remained unsuitable as a NSW casino operator.
The OLGR had waited until Wednesday — the day before The Star Brisbane's opening — to approve a casino licence to the consortium that owns the Queen's Wharf development.
But the NICC had received the Bell report a month before its public release. Queensland Shadow Attorney-General Tim Nicholls said yesterday he thought it highly likely someone at the OLGR knew of the Bell report's findings ahead of the licensing decision.
In a statement, Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said last night the OLGR had been working closely with the NICC to oversee The Star’s remediation progress and had been monitoring the 2024 inquiry into The Star.
Yvette D'Ath says the Destination Brisbane Consortium satisfied licensing conditions. (AAP: Jono Searle)
"We note the Bell Two report’s findings that The Star remains unsuitable to hold a casino licence in New South Wales," Ms D'Ath said.
"We also acknowledge that NICC has not yet announced its response to the Bell Two report, and we’ll continue to monitor the situation and work through any implications for The Star’s Queensland operations."
Star seeking extra money and tax breaks
Cash-strapped Star remains in an ASX-imposed trading halt after failing to reveal its financial position to the market as required last Friday.
Star has until December to prove its suitability as a casino licensee following major failings in controlling money laundering at its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos, first revealed in 2022.
In the past year, the company has twice sought funds from shareholders and has tapped its biggest investors for extra cash.
It faces an as-yet-undisclosed fine by federal financial regulator AUSTRAC that could stretch into the hundreds of millions.
The ABC understands Star has also sought payroll tax deferrals from the Queensland government.
Premier Steven Miles said today discussions are continuing with Star after it requested help and confirmed the current talks relate to "obvious moving parts", such as gambling and payroll tax deferrals.
He said it is "not unusual for the state to enter into those kind of arrangements".
"There are other examples where projects with large capital costs but big jobs dividends have been able to defer their payments to the state, provided that ultimately they get paid in the long run," he said.
Steven Miles says the government does not want Queen's Wharf to fail. (ABC News)
"There are certainly no discussions that I'm aware of at this stage that involve the waiving of payments. There has been some requests around deferral of payments."
Mr Miles described the NSW government's reluctance to offer any tax relief to Star as "pretty disappointing".
"This is an important employer in Sydney as well — if I was the NSW government, I'd want to keep those people in jobs."
Asked whether the Queensland government regarded Star as too big to fail, he replied: "Certainly the state has an interest in Queen's Wharf Brisbane in not failing and that's what we're endeavouring to achieve."
Mr Nicholls said it was clear Star "has a multitude of problems" and "the market might determine whether Star survives or not in its current form".
He believed the OLGR faced "a lot of pressure" to ensure the doors of a new casino could open last Thursday.
Tim Nicholls says the OLGR needs to be more transparent in its decision-making. (ABC News: Dean Caton )
"I think people want to know on what basis has the attorney-general decided that Star and its partners are a fit and proper person to hold this licence?" he said.
Stockbroker Charlie Green said the suspension from the ASX was "very concerning" for shareholders who have not seen the accounts.
He said the investment industry had heard that Star needed an injection of at least $300 million to stop it "unravelling".
"You usually associate a trading halt with some washed out, you know, miner from the back of Burke. You don't usually associate a trading halt with a company that was a top 100 company and is now fading fast," he said.
"Is it too much of a cliche to say Star is at risk of becoming a black hole? Is that a shocker? Because that's where we're headed. If it goes into administration it is all over for the equity holders."
Stockbroker Charlie Green says the suspension from the ASX was “very concerning”. (ABC News: Lexy Hamilton-Smith)
State regulators have 'failed'
Mr Nicholls said it could be time for Queensland to follow the lead of NSW and set up its own independent casino regulator, but stopped short of committing a future LNP government to the move.
"I've raised this in the past," he said.
Cash-strapped Star remains in an ASX-imposed trading halt. (Supplied: Star Entertainment Group)
"The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation [is] part of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. I think there is a strong case to be made for the regulatory authority to be sort of separate, if you like, from executive government," he said.
Mr Nicholls said an LNP government would "see what information we have and make that information available so the public can actually see what is going on and what has been going on behind closed doors".
He said his first move would be to get fully briefed on what the OLGR knew and when.
"Because we're flying in the dark, much like most of the public in Queensland is at the moment."
Tim Costello says it's "inconceivable" that OLGR was not briefed on the Bell report last week. (Supplied)
Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello said it was time for a national casino regulator.
"Look, the truth is that state-based regulators have failed," he said.
"I mean, how many chances does Star get? We need a national regulator that actually is empowered to make tough decisions."
He said it was "inconceivable" that the OLGR was unaware of the Bell report findings when granting the new Star Brisbane casino licence.
Mr Costello said he was "very suspicious" of the OLGR's move to hand the new Brisbane casino licence to the consortium that owns Queen's Wharf rather than directly to Star.
"They actually knew, it seems to me, that Star wasn't fit and yet they said, 'Oh, we found a loophole.'
"We don't want anything setting back the opening date of this shiny, brand new casino that everyone's, you know, cheering about, that's too big to fail."
Mr Nicholls agreed granting licence to the consortium rather than Star was "slightly odd".
Ms D'Ath said Governor in Council granted approval for a casino licence to be issued to Destination Brisbane Consortium in October 2016, subject to a number of conditions.
"The licence became unconditional after Destination Brisbane Consortium satisfied these conditions, which included entering a long-term lease with the state which took effect on August 29, 2024," Ms D'Ath said.
The Star Brisbane CEO Daniel Finch was unavailable for comment yesterday.