“Given the evidence of Star’s appalling failures, a show cause notice seems manifestly inadequate. It makes you wonder what criminal activity needs to happen under the noses of regulators before they lose their licence to operate,” the chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, said.

“Casino operators are obviously a protected species like no other in Australia’s corporate landscape, what other company could be found guilty of such egregious failure and not have their licence to operate taken from them. This should have been the action taken already by the regulator”

“The casinos’ business models are based on the exploitation of the vulnerable and up until now the facilitation of money laundering, organised crime and fraud. There is no more evidence needed to show that the states and their regulators are failing the Australian people,” Rev. Costello said.

“Star must lose its licence to operate but given the fact Crown held onto its licence after the uncovering of similar criminal activity within its casinos, one can have no confidence that this will happen.

“It is as if casino operators are bullet-proof. And the cleaning out of their executive ranks will do nothing to change the breaches that Star and Crown have been found guilty of in the past.”