Some light reading over the weekend’Frankly amateurish’: Star casino’s new chair Anne Ward slams report by independent manager Nick Weeks
Star’s newly appointed chair Anne Ward provided more than 70 detailed additions and suggestions to then-chief executive Robbie Cooke, and slammed the casino’s independent manager as “amateurish” during an extensive drafting process of an explosive internal report.
Ms Ward also called for the addition of a paragraph that inferred the NSW regulator was running a campaign about Star through The Sydney Morning Herald, according to a cache of internal documents seen by The Weekend Australian.
The senior director labelled a follow up report of an annual assessment into Star by independent manager Nick Weeks as “frankly amateurish, subjective and lacking supporting evidence”, according to one email.
Ms Ward also urged Mr Cooke to “strongly reject any inference that the Star has a complacency to the risks its business faces” as well as push back on suggestions it was going too slowly in its efforts to rebuild its culture.
“This is subjective opinion and not supported by facts,” Ms Ward’s email to Mr Cooke and her fellow board members says.
It was Star’s rejection of the independent manager’s report that incensed the NSW casino regulator, prompting the regulator to take aim at both Mr Cooke and the casino’s then-chair David Foster.
Star’s independent manager had issued a highly confidential report card of Star’s reform progress on October 3. Both Mr Cooke and Mr Foster signed off on Star’s response on January 23, but according to confidential documents filed with the Bell inquiry, the report had input from several other directors right up until it was sent.
Mr Cooke resigned from Star in March, and Mr Foster stepped down as chair during the Bell hearings in April.
Ms Ward, a former top legal counsel with National Australia Bank, and Star’s lead independent director, took charge as chair of the casino in April, marking the third person to take the role in just two years.
However, the emergence of the confidential email sent by Ms Ward to all the directors of Star, and a cache of confidential documents lodged with the Bell inquiry, shed a dramatically different light on the overriding narrative presented during the hearings thatthe former chief executive and chairman were acting without the authority of the casino operator’s board.
In April, Ms Ward sought to distance herself from the responses that Star had prepared to the report by Mr Weeks.
While she told the inquiry that she provided some input into Star’s responses, the final versions sent to the NICC were “more combative than they should have been” and “the tone was inappropriate”.
A Star spokeswoman on Friday said: “We fully appreciatethe responsibilities involved in holding a casino licence. We are absolutely committed to rebuilding our relationship with the regulator and restoring trust by being open and transparent in all our dealings with the regulator.”
A January 13 email sent by Ms Ward to Mr Cooke and all Star directors including Mr Foster, had 74 detailed additions and changes she suggested should be made to the drafting of the response.
It also asks a final version be sent to Star’s legal adviser, Patrick Gunning of King & Wood Mallesons, and circulated to the board for a final read through.
Both were done several times, as drafts were modified up until January 22.
“Thanks Robbie (Cooke) for the painstaking work in putting this response together,” Ms Ward says in her January 13 email.
“As discussed, I have reviewed the draft in detail and my comments are set out below.”
All of Ms Ward’s comments and amendments are included in the final version of the response sent to the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC), according to internal documents seen by The Weekend Australian.
“I think we should state clearly that our purpose in providing a detailed response is to ‘ensure that any decision taken by the NICC in relation to the Star’s licence is taken on the basis of complete and accurate facts, taking into account all relevant matters and not taking into account irrelevant matters’. I suggest using these words in the Introductory Comments, as well as the covering letter,” Ms Ward’s email reads.
It also asks for the addition in the introductory comments: “I believe we should reiterate the Stars/Boards disappointment that the NICC chose to share a number of concerns with the media prior to giving us adequate opportunity to respond and also that the NICC chose not to formally approve the remediation plan.
“I would expand the third para (sic) to state that while we acknowledge the managers observations, we do take issue with the factual errors in the reports, the lack of recognition of actions taken and accomplishments during the period and some conclusions drawn by the manager without full information or evidence, or taking into account irrelevant matters.”
In her email Ms Ward also asked Mr Cooke to “disagree” on dozens of points raised throughout the Weeks report, including the notion that Star “displayed a lack of urgency to deal with these issues”.
Each of these points were added to the final response that was emailed to the board and King & Wood Mallesons by Mr Cooke on January 22 to get some “legal eyes” over the documents, he said in an email to the board.
Star’s law firm had suggested some softening of some points which Mr Cooke added to the final version.
“These documents … reflect comments provided by board members and refinements + additions I have made separately,” Mr Cooke’s email read.
The final draft sent by Mr Cooke included words that were written in bold and underlined.
Ms Ward was the first director to respond to the final version on January 22.
“I have reviewed the cover letter and revised responses, and I am happy with all of them,” she said.
“Keen to get the documents out to the NICC ASAP.”
In her evidence presented to the Bell inquiry in April, Ms Ward said she “wasn’t happy … with the tone of the responses”.
“I’m referring particularly to bold and underlined sentences,” she said.
Several Star directors also commented on the final version of the Star response, including Peter Hodgson, who emailed Mr Cooke later on January 22.
“I would complement you on the detail,” he said.
Mr Hodgson then went on to make several suggestions, which were included in the final version.
“I come to the comment ‘put simply the low level of governance, expertise and oversight means it has an inadequate ability’ – first of all as you say there is no evidence for this. In fact there is evidence to the contrary.”
The report was sent to Mr Foster early the next day, with additions from King & Wood Mallesons, and then the Star chairman then sent it to the NICC just after midday.
This week it was revealed by The Australian that Bell inquiry’s lead counsel had recommended in closing submissionsStar Entertainment should not be considered suitable to hold a casino licenceand the appointment of the external manager needs to be extended until the under-pressure operator shows it can change its ways.
The confidential closing submission suggested it could take three to five years to win back trust.
Although the closing submissions don’t form the final recommendations, inquiry head Adam Bell is likely to place significant weight on them.
The lead counsel’s closing submission declared Mr Cooke and Mr Foster represented “barriers” to the casino being found suitable to regain its licence.
Late on Thursday the NICC quietly extended Mr Weeks’ term as independent manager for a further six months until March 2025.
The NICC said this week it did not intend to release the Bell recommendations publicly until it had time to consider its findings.
Some light reading over the weekend’Frankly amateurish’: Star...
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