Counsel assisting argues Star Entertainment Group may never return to suitability

Another disastrous week for Australia’s beleaguered Star Entertainment Group took a further hit on Wednesday with counsel assisting a second inquiry into its suitability to hold a New South Wales casino license claiming the company may never return to suitability.

Delivering his closing submissions, Caspar Conde rejected comments by Star’s lawyers last week arguing the casino operator should be allowed to continue operating under an extended tenure of the Manager appointed to oversee operations.

Instead, Conde said the actions of recently ousted executives Robbie Cooke and David Foster proved Star could not be trusted to hold a license even if under supervision.

“The Star entities’ contention that they are suitable with licence conditions and the Manager contrasts with the unqualified acceptance by every director of Star Entertainment that Star Entertainment is presently unsuitable,” Conde fired.

“In terms of present suitability, our submission remains that you would conclude that the Star and Star Entertainment are not presently suitable regardless of any proposal in relation to licence conditions or the manager.”

Conde added that a person “cannot be unsuitable but rendered suitable by licence conditions or the appointment of a manager” and that he saw no evidence that Star “will or is likely to become suitable.”

It’s been a turbulent ride for Star, not least because of an embarrassing bungle earlier this week in which the company claimed to have fielded takeover interest from a subsidiary of Hard Rock International, only for the US casino entity to deny any involvement whatsoever.

Star had previously seen Cooke and Foster depart in the wake of explosive evidence given during the inquiry that they had plotted to remove Manager Nick Weeks and lobby to replace the regulator, the NSW Independent Casino Commission.

The inquiry also revealed evidence that Star had falsified records in regard to welfare checks on customers seen gambling for more than three hours at a time, as required under current regulations.

Commissioner Adam Bell is due to hand down his recommendations in relation to Star by 31 July 2024.