Brisbane's Queen's Wharf sky deck, restaurants and casino now open
Brisbane's Queen's Wharf precinct opens today, with Queensland Premier Steven Miles labelling the project as a "vision of the city".
The $3.6 billion precinct will be home to a major new casino run by the embattled Star Entertainment Group, which is currently working to satisfy the state government's standards on anti-money-laundering and safe gambling practices.
The 12-hectare hub will also include bars, restaurants, three hotels with over 1,000 hotel rooms, apartments, a Sky Deck which opens at 5pm today and has expansive views of the river CBD and South Brisbane, and an event centre with a large ballroom.
The Sky deck opens with the first of three restaurants on the deck level.
The Star Grand Hotel also opens today, with the Dorsett and Rosewood hotels due to open by the end of 2026.
"We've been talking for some time about our vision of the city, with high-quality precincts linked together with active travel and public transport links," Miles said.
"The heart of that vision starts to come together over the next few days.
"Queen's Wharf will be the biggest new integrated resort development to open in the world for years to come.”
Public access to the riverfront is also improved with walkways and a plaza beneath the footbridge across the river. Access is open to the Neville Bonner Bridge from South Bank to Queen's Wharf.
State Development Minister Grace Grace said, "It's an amazing facility but we want to ensure that it is done in the proper way and we're confident that is the way it will occur going forward."
Meanwhile, Star Entertainment Group continues to fight for its right to hold the casino licence.
In 2022, the Queensland government imposed a $100 million penalty on Star due to "major failings" at its casinos in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Subsequently, the state appointed a special manager to oversee the company's operations.
An independent review commissioned by the NSW Independent Casino Commission revealed similar shortcomings in Star's Sydney casino operations. The review highlighted deficiencies in the company's anti-money-laundering program, improper encouragement of high-risk gamblers, and a lack of transparency with regulators and financial institutions.
In light of these findings, Star's casino licenses in both states have been under review. While the company has been granted temporary extensions to develop remediation plans, its long-term viability as a casino operator remains uncertain.
Star Brisbane chief executive Daniel Finch said at this morning's Queen's Wharf media launch, “We have a heightened focus on all of our anti-money-laundering policies, procedures, our internal control manuals and measures, also our counter-terrorism financing.
"And also safer gambling and harm minimisation — we have an enormous team now, we have protocols in place and we are well and truly on our way to suitability."
The new casino is open from 2pm today.
Jonathan Jackson, 29th August 2024
