Fed up with local casinos breaking gaming regulations, the government of Queensland has decided to take a hard line against Australian companies such as Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts.
The government will be introducing sweeping new reforms through its Casino Control Amendment Bill, that could issue fines of up to $50 million to casinos found guilty of violating the law.
Queensland Attorney General, Shannon Fentiman said that the new laws aim to reduce the risk of criminal activity of casino groups within the industry.
The government also plans to move towards cashless gambling in a bid to control money laundering.
The bill gives the government permission to demand that casinos hand over information, even data that is deemed “privileged”.
The reforms come after a string of high-level charges against both Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts, which has left a bad taste in the mouth of the industry.
Star Entertainment has been accused of supporting money laundering at its Queensland casinos, and both groups have been the subject of inquiries in several Australian states.
While Queensland hasn’t opened its own inquiry into the casino operations, it has been monitoring the cases in other states, and has decided to introduce the reforms as soon as possible.
The authority confirmed that the new laws will be enacted before Star’s new Queen’s Wharf project opens in the state.