David Foster Steps Down as Chair of The Star Entertainment Group Limited

The embattled Chair for Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group Limited, David Foster, has resigned his post less than a week after giving evidence to the ongoing inquiry into the license suitability of the company’s The Star Sydney property.

The Brisbane-headquartered firm declared Foster has exited with immediate effect although he is to retain his seat on its board of directors on an interim basis to ‘continue his executive responsibilities’. It stated he has also agreed to stay on as a ‘director of relevant subsidiary company boards’ until these can be reconstituted with ‘individuals holding the necessary regulatory approvals’.

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Tough Task

Foster has over two decades of experience in the financial services sector and was appointed to serve as the Chair for The Star Entertainment Group Limited in March of last year. The former Suncorp Bank boss was immediately tasked with helping the casino firm to clean up its act after a 2022 examination found its flagship Sydney venue unsuitable to hold a license owing to a series of shortcomings associated with its cultural, communications and anti-money laundering processes. 

However, Foster purportedly found his efforts increasingly frustrated by office politics and, in particular, the relationship between the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Robbie Cooke, and the independent manager appointed to help implement an official state-mandated remediation plan, Nicholas Weeks. 

Business News Australia reports this exasperation was laid bare last week via testimony in which the firm’s relationship with the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission was described as being akin to a ‘state of war’.

Astonishing Admission

Foster’s departure furthermore comes after he told the official inquiry his company was currently unsuitable to operate a casino in New South Wales and there was ‘not a scenario’ in which it would be able to run the property unsupervised. 

The Australian Financial Review reports he was additionally quizzed on Tuesday over a series of ‘heat of the moment’ texts with Cooke in which the pair allegedly discussed getting rid of Weeks by having shareholders launch a class-action lawsuit against the government-appointed manager.

These admissions are thought to have not gone down well with the board of directors for The Star Entertainment Group Limited although it remains unclear whether Foster stood down voluntarily or was asked to leave. 

This is just the latest in a raft of resignations since December that has included Cooke as well as the beleaguered company’s past Chief Financial Officer, Christina Katsibouba, former Chief Customer and Product Officer, George Hughes, and previous Chief Legal Officer, Betty Ivanoff. 

Ward told the Australian Financial Review she intends to transform The Star Entertainment Group Limited, which moreover operates Queensland’s The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Casino and Hotel properties, into a company ‘compliant with all relevant regulations and obligations’. 

The past counsel for National Australia Bank also asserted the firm is to have ‘strong leadership in place at all relevant levels’ moving forward while fostering ‘an open, honest and constructive relationship with the relevant regulators’.