Geoff Hogg, the Star Entertainment Group’s acting chief executive officer, has begun giving testimony to Queenland’s inquiry into the casino operator’s suitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- The Queensland government\u2019s\u00a0independent external review<\/a>\u00a0into the Star Entertainment Group’s suitability to hold casino licences in Queensland has started to hear testimony of the company’s acting CEO, Geoff Hogg<\/strong>. He’s told the inquiry that the Star had been responsible for some minor breaches since 2017<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Hogg added that most of these breaches were incidents such as excluding customers or staff errors at the table. He said he had “no knowledge” of the casino operator paying fines for breaching Queensland law over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hogg said: “Certainly, we’ve obviously focused on remediation steps that we can do when we have any breaches or anything that occurs, and it’s been a focus for us. I’m not aware of any fines.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, authorities announced\u00a0legislative changes to Queensland’s casino regulatory framework<\/a> to introduce tougher gambling laws, heavier penalties and more measures to minimise gambling harms. According to the new laws, casino operators could face penalties of up to AU$50m in the case of misconduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attorney-general and minister for justice\u00a0Shannon Fentiman\u00a0<\/strong>said the reforms will be in place before the opening of the new casino at Queen\u2019s Wharf to be operated by The Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the inquiry, Hogg revealed that the government told the Star about the proposed changes in legislation and asked them for feedback before going to parliament. He said the Star had not commented on the proposed new fines or the size of the fines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chief executive said he believed the government would consult all Queensland casino operators<\/strong> on the bill beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hogg stated: “We had a notification that was considerations, I suppose of key themes and messages around it for which we got to respond. At that stage, we hadn’t seen the bill itself for its drafting, but we have given feedback and support to most of the changes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hogg was asked if he was sure activities and concerns raised in\u00a0the NSW inquiry<\/a>\u00a0into the Star had not occurred in Queensland. He answered the company has been working to improve its policies over the last three or four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added: “Once we realised there were some gaps in what we’re doing that would apply in both areas, and committed to fixing those and addressing those which we’ve done over the last four years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n