But the lawyers insisted Star had since responded to issues raised at the inquiry and was “presently suitable” to run a casino.
Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman told a business lunch in Brisbane she was watching the New South Wales inquiry with great interest,ahead of her government’s independent review of Star’s suitability to hold Brisbane and Gold Coast casino licences.
Fentiman said the Queensland inquiry would “build on” what has happened in the NSW inquiry before Adam Bell,SC.
“We’re going to wait for that inquiry to play out,and we’ve now reached the stage where we want to have our own review into the suitability of Star to hold a licence,” she said on Tuesday.
Even if that proposed Queensland inquiry handed down adverse findings against Star,Fentiman said there was a path forward to a grand opening for Queen’s Wharf mid-2023.
The attorney-general cited similar investigations into casinos inMelbourne andPerth that found Crown unsuitable to hold licences in those markets.
“They have given Crown a temporary two-year licence on the condition that they meet all of the expectations of the regulator,and they’ve put in place a special manager basically to oversee every aspect of the operation of Crown Casino,” Fentiman said.