The company that owns The Star casino in Sydney doesn’t think it would make sense to extend the city’s controversial lockout laws to the venue.
“I think that would make no sense at all,” Star Entertainment Group chief executive Matt Bekier told AAP on Tuesday.
“If you look at our statistics, even the fact that we have 11 million people (visitors), we are one of the safest venues in the world.
“We are an international tourism destination, and that needs to be recognised.”
Debate about the controversial laws covering 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks has reignited amid claims the tough rules are killing off Sydney’s inner city nightlife.
The laws apply to venues in the city’s CBD, but exclude The Star.
Mr Bekier would not comment on whether the lockout laws were good for Sydney. He said their impact was a matter for the affected venues.
But he insisted The Star had not benefited from the lockout laws.
“If you look at our (financial) results, we have a significant uptake in our gaming results,” he said.
“If you look at who is impacted by the lockouts it is a very different crowd of people.
“We make less than three per cent of our revenues from alcohol sales, so we are not benefiting from it.
“In fact we’ve had to put on all this extra security to keep the property tight.”
Mr Bekier said The Star employs hundreds of security guards and uses about 2,500 digital cameras to keep its visitors safe.
“That’s what I’m focusing on: that we can continue to provide a safe and secure environment for our customers,” he said.
Mr Bekier said he was unsure if the Star Entertainment Group had a policy position on whether or not lockout laws should be introduced into Queensland.
The group owns the Treasury casino in Brisbane and Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast.
Image credit: iStock
