Almost a decade ago, executives at Star Entertainment described the planned construction of the Queen’s Wharf casino in Brisbane as a “gamechanger” for the city and the gambling company.
The phrasing turned out to be prescient – but not in the way Star envisaged.
A massive project cost blowout, coupled with collapsing revenues, licensing headaches and major operational disruptions caused by multiple inquiries uncovering systemic breaches of anti-money-laundering rules has pushed the casino operator to the brink of collapse.
Star has warned shareholders it spent $107m [US$66m] in the past three months, leaving just $79m [US$49m] in the bank at the end of 2024.
