Casino operator The Star Entertainment Group Ltd said in a Sunday press release that The Star Brisbane (pictured in an artist’s rendering), a long-anticipated new casino resort, will open its facilities starting from August 29.
The statement described the complex at Queen’s Wharf, Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, as a AUD3.6-billion (US$2.4-billion) project. The launch date had been put back a number of times.
In its latest update, the firm gave a list of areas “to open progressively from August into September and throughout the remainder of 2024 as part of the first phase of a multi-staged opening.”
It added regarding the property’s facilities that “not all will open on Thursday 29 August 2024”.
The list for the progressive opening included the “main casino floor and premium gaming rooms”, as well as the “The Star Grand” hotel. No clear date for the launch of gaming operations was provided in the release.
The Star Brisbane’s chief executive Daniel Finch was cited as indicating that from late August into September and throughout the remainder of 2024, what the release termed “a steady stream of new restaurants, bars, public spaces and destinations will begin opening, enlivening the previously underutilised 12 hectares [29.7 acres] of river’s edge,” in the centre of Brisbane.
Mr Finch stated regarding the phased opening: “We want to ensure our team members are prepared, our facilities have been tested, our processes are right and importantly our guests have an exceptional experience that they will talk about and come back to experience again.”
He added: “Not everything will open all at once on day one. That also means returning guests will find something new to experience, not just here at The Star but also across both sides of the river.”
Casino inventory, Chinese investment
The Star Brisbane is to be housed within a complex called Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, promoted by the Destination Brisbane Consortium. According to a response to a compilation of frequently-asked questions (FAQs) on the consortium’s website, “the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane casino operator will have an entitlement to 2,500 gaming machines, although not all machines may be installed at opening.”
The FAQ response added: “It is the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane casino operator who will decide how many machines are operating at the casino opening and during operations.”
Regarding the number of table games – another FAQ – the promoters stated: “Table games operated at the casino will be determined by the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane casino operator, but are limited to the amount of gaming floor area approved by the gaming regulator.”
The FAQ responses had also noted that: “The existing [Star Entertainment] Treasury Casino in the Brisbane central business district will continue to operate during the construction phase [of The Star Brisbane] and is expected to relocate to the new integrated resort development, in the signature arc-shaped building, in 2024.”
In early May, the Queensland authorities said there was “insufficient evidence to conclude” that Hong Kong firm Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd (CTFE) or its relevant associates were “unsuitable” to be 25 percent investors in the Destination Brisbane Consortium, which holds the casino licence for The Star Brisbane.
An August 2022 report from the Australian Broadcasting Corp had reiterated long-standing links between the Cheng family – the founder of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises – and the late Stanley Ho Hung Sun, founder of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd. Mr Ho had been subject to scrutiny by authorities in several countries, over alleged links to Chinese organised crime groups
Separately, in relation to other regulatory concerns about the way The Star Entertainment Group had conducted its anti-money laundering and other duties in Australia, Queensland had from October 2022 found the company “unsuitable” to hold a casino licence in that state.
In December that year, The Star Entertainment Group Ltd’s existing Queensland licences were suspended for a “period of 90 days”, and placed under government supervision.
The Australian casino operator was also fined AUD100 million.
