Star Entertainment urges NSW pubs and clubs to back cashless gaming
The owner of Sydney’s largest casino has backed Premier Dominic Perrottet’s push to convert the state’s 95,000 poker machines to cashless technology and urged NSW pubs and clubs to embrace the change in a “timely fashion”.
In its first foray into the contentious debate over poker machine reform, Star Entertainment Group told the Herald that it was spending millions of dollars on developing and implementing cashless technology in its casinos, but meaningful transition could not occur until pubs and clubs did the same.
The gambling giant’s flagship Pyrmont venue has poker-machine exclusivity in NSW casinos, but its machines make up just 2 per cent of all pokies across the state once pubs and clubs are factored in.
The Star Entertainment Group has urged NSW pubs and clubs to commit to transitioning to cashless gaming to curb money laundering across the state.Oscar Colmannone
Perrottet committed to mandatory cashless gaming cards in clubs and pubs in November but is yet to provide a road map for when or how the technology will be rolled out.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is yet to elaborate on how the proposed cashless gaming cards will be rolled out. Janie Barrett none
The push for cashless gaming has triggered a furious response from ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association, along with threats to campaign against pro-reform MPs ahead of the March 25 state election.
But a spokesperson for Star said industry-wide use of the technology was the best way to proceed.
“The Star has less than 2 per cent of the gaming machines in NSW with the rest housed in clubs and pubs,” the spokesperson said.
“Unless cashless is embraced industry-wide and in a timely fashion how can government address the issues and achieve the results it has outlined?”
“The Star supports the government’s move towards cashless play across the industry.”
The comments will be welcomed by gambling reform advocates but will probably be interpreted by the powerful pubs and clubs lobby as an attempt to make sure other poker machine owners operate on the same playing field as casinos.
The Star and its competitor at Barangaroo, Crown Resorts, signed an agreement with the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) to transition to cashless gaming in May 2021. The agreement was one of the requirements imposed on Crown by the regulator to regain its casino licence after an inquiry found it unsuitable to hold the licence due to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism failings exposed three months earlier.
Star Entertainment lost its NSW casino licence in October and will operate under the regulator’s independent manager Nicholas Weeks until 2024. It was also fined $100 million by the NSW casino regulator.
While the Star has adopted a supportive tone on cashless gaming, elsewhere it is locked in a battle with the NSW government after Treasurer Matt Kean proposed a tax increase on its Sydney casino’s table games and poker machines last week.
The announcement has wiped more than $600 million off its market value.
Under the proposal, casino poker machines will attract a top tax rate of 60.67 per cent from July next year, bringing NSW in line with new taxation rates announced in Victoria’s state budget. But unlike in Victoria, the proposed increase will apply only to machines in the state’s casinos and not those in pubs and clubs.
The casino operator is also facing fines totalling hundreds of millions of dollars after AUSTRAC launched civil penalty proceedings against it for alleged systemic non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws.
The Star’s comments on Perrottet’s cashless gaming plan were made three days after NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb told the Herald on Monday that the misuse of cash in the gambling system was an “area of concern” that had been highlighted by a damning state Crime Commission investigation into the billions of dollars being laundered through poker machines every year.
The introduction of the gaming card, a recommendation from the Crime Commission inquiry codenamed Project Islington, would need to go to cabinet, and Perrottet will also need to convince Nationals colleagues who have not committed to supporting the technology.
ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association have previously warned the cost of the measure would force venues to impose job cuts, a claim disputed by the United Workers Union which represents the industry’s employees. Cashless gaming is also supported by the NSW branch of the Health Services Union, which has argued that the time for trials and talk has “been and past”.
ClubsNSW launched the statewide “Reform the Right Way” campaign earlier this month with a call for “practical and proportionate reform”. The action singled out independents and the Greens, while inviting people to email their local MP.
The government scrapped a bill to reform registered clubs last month which would have allowed facial recognition technology in pubs and clubs to exclude those from venues who had self-identified as problem gamblers.
ClubsNSW has said it will proceed with its plans to implement the technology in compliance with existing privacy laws.
It declined to comment about the Star’s call for pubs and clubs to embrace cashless gaming.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.
