Star’s casinos in Queensland issued show cause notices

The investigation into the Star Gold Coast and the Treasury Brisbane is part of the renewed efforts by Australian authorities to ensure that casinos operating across individual states uphold the highest industry standards and regulation, ABC News reported. A number of extensive probes has shown that this is not the case, and wrongdoers now need to change their ways as they grapple with increased supervision, the threat of losing their licenses completely, and mounting costs to patch up shortcomings.

The latest properties in trouble are the ones investigated by Robert Gotterson, a former Court of Appeal judge, who conducted the namesake Gotterson Review into both the Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane and served the properties with show cause notices last week. Both properties have been found unsuitable to hold their licenses, a fate shared by Crown Resorts, but not the end of the line anyway.

A show cause notice essentially renders a decision by a legal authority, but also gives the defendant(s) an opportunity to prove to the court why a penalty should not be enacted. The Gotterson Review has put forward 12 different recommendations on how to strengthen the gambling industry in Queensland and has offered changes to the existing regulatory framework in the state.

Part of these recommendations have already been implemented, including a change in the amount of the regulatory penalty that a business can suffer in Queensland if it is not compliant with existing gambling laws. The total amount of the fine was changed from AU$1m to AU$100m by the recommendations issued during the review.

The Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman did report that there have been serious issues with Star and the way the properties operated. However, the review is not all bad, even if it demonstrates serious failings across the board. It’s a strong call for action for the industry to change its act and for regulators to play a more serious role in steering this change.

The Gotterson Review began in June, and it was launched wit the help of Fentiman who said that the measure was necessary in order to ensure that Queensland cleans up its gambling industry.

Moving forward, there is a real possibility for Star’s properties to be putunder a special monitoring regime – for which they will have to pay out of pocket – but whether a license is actually suspended and taken away from a property would really and only come down to how well Star handles the issues it faces in Queensland.

Crown Resorts made sure to purge its higher-ups and bring in new management, demonstrating its unfaltering will to change.

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