Queensland to Reform Gambling Laws amid Star Inquiry

Queensland plans to introduce new gambling laws instead of launching inquiries against operators, the government announced. This comes amid ongoing action against Star Entertainment in other Australian states.

Queensland Plans to Introduce New Laws

In the wake of the recent inquiries against Star Entertainment Group and Crown Resorts, Queensland realized that it needs to introduce tougher gambling regulations. The state has been carefully following the developments in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Because of that, its government wants to prevent its casinos from becoming crime dens.

Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts are guilty of breaching multiple regulations and allowing money laundering, crime and foreign influence to take place at their venues. The findings led to multiple changes in the leadership of both companies and various disciplinary actions on the behalf of the local regulators.

However, Queensland doesn’t look like it plans to evaluate the operators’ businesses. Instead, the state will learn from the mistakes of others and will introduce laws that prevent crime in the first place. The new Casino Control and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 outlines the proposed changes. Notably, the amendments aim to prevent crime from taking root at the state’s casinos.

Fentiman Spoke about the Upcoming Changes

Shannon Fentiman, attorney-general and minister for justice, commented on the new bill. According to her, it will ensure that people in Queensland can trust the integrity of laws governing casinos.

Fentiman explained that the happenings in other Australian states have inspired the local government to raise the maximum penalties that for incompliant regulators. She noted that fines will be able to get as high as $50 million.

These reforms are considered to be examples of best practice casino regulation and will be in place before the opening of the new casino at Queen’s Wharf to be operated by The Star.

Shannon Fentiman, attorney-general and minister for justice

The Queen’s Wharf is an upcoming casino that will replace the Treasury Brisbane – one of the local Star-operated venues.

Fentiman added that Queensland will be adopting safer payment methods and will help companies transition to cashless gaming. The local government believes that this will benefit the industry as a whole and will help to prevent crime. Electronic transactions are easily tracible and therefore help to prevent monetary crimes such as money laundering.

Finally, Fentiman asserted that modernization will be done with safe and responsible gambling in mind. She added that going cashless will also help the industry to adopt further tech advancements.