Latest news with #ex-Tropical
Sky News AU
25-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Star Entertainment Group shareholders give approval for $300m takeover offer from Bally's Corporation, Bruce Mathieson
Star Entertainment Group's chair issued a desperate plea to shareholders before they voted in favour of a $300 million takeover bid from US giant Bally's Corporation to avert collapse. More than 98 per cent of Shareholders of Star voted to approve two key items on the agenda at the company's meeting on Wednesday which were necessary to handing Bally's, alongside publican Bruce Mathieson, control of the company. Star confirmed in April it was accepting the takeover deal as the company limped on its last legs with little cash reserves and mounting debts. Prior to the deal getting the green light, Star's chair Anne Ward urged shareholders to vote in favour of the takeover deal after being plagued by financial troubles in the lead up to the announcement of the deal. 'The Star and its advisors have pursued a range of funding options with an increasing degree of urgency over the last 12 months, including asset sales and a variety of recapitalisation proposals,' Ms Ward said on Wednesday. 'But as the independent expert said, the Star and its advisors have essentially exhausted all options. 'The strategic investments are the only remaining funding solution available'. Bally's will control 38 per cent of Star while Mr Mathieson's Investment Holdings will take about 23 per cent. While shareholders have approved the takeover deal that saved the casino operator, its future still hangs under a dark cloud as financial strains and a looming $400m fine from AUSTRAC over money laundering breaches plague the company. Ms Ward noted these challenges in her address to shareholders and stressed the backing of Bally's and Mr Mathieson was critical to ensuring its future. 'As shareholders will be aware, The Star is facing significant uncertainty regarding its ability to continue as a going concern, amid a challenging operating environment and several claims, including awaiting judgment in the civil proceedings launched by AUSTRAC, the hearing of which concluded on 11 June 2025,' she said. 'The strategic investments by Bally's and Investment Holdings provide cash funding and assist The Star's ability to continue as a going concern, helping to avoid outcomes such as voluntary administration, which is likely not to be in the best interests of shareholders.' The company was forced into a trading halt earlier this year after it failed to publish its financial results by its deadline due to its dire position. It was finally able to publish its results after receiving the offer from Bally's Corporation and Mr Mathieson that injected $100m of short-term cash into Star. Star in April revealed revenue was down more than 16 per cent for the first half of the 2025 financial year. It also reported a $21m loss for the first three months of this year as dwindling visitor numbers, gaming restrictions and ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred plagued the embattled casino operator. Earlier this week, Star revealed several new appointments as it looks to rebuild its business.
Sky News AU
24-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Star Entertainment Group announces new appointments as it looks to rebuild under Bally's Corporation ownership
Star Entertainment Group has gone on a hiring spree as the embattled casino operator gears up for a major rebuild after years of scandals and financial woes. Helen Galloway, a director of Hockey Australia and chair of Bank of us, has been appointed the independent chair of The Star Sydney as the casino operator looks to implement a new governance framework and decentralise to its three properties in NSW and Queensland. Ms Galloway's appointment is part of a raft of changes Star announced in November in agreement with regulators and gaming commissions in both NSW and Queensland. The company has also appointed hospitality veteran Jennifer Cronin as interim CEO of The Star Gold Coast alongside Patrick McGlinchey as Star's group chief legal officer, ex-KPMG's Rowena Craze as the group chief risk officer, Sarah Derry as chief people officer and Peter Meliniotis as group chief information officer. Star's CEO Steve McCann said the appointments were critical to the casino operator as it rebuilds. 'I am pleased to finalise these key appointments for the Star,' Mr McCann told shareholders. 'These appointments add to the depth of experience and talent at the board and executive level and are a key step in the Star's progress to suitability.' Star's appointments come after it signed a $300m takeover deal with US gaming giant Bally's Corporation as it was teetering on the brink of collapse for months. The company was forced into a trading halt earlier this year after it failed to publish its financial results by its deadline due to its dire position. It was finally able to publish its results after receiving the offer from Bally's Corporation and publican billionaire Bruce Mathieson that injected $100m of short-term cash into Star. Star in April revealed revenue was down more than 16 per cent for the first half of the 2025 financial year. It also reported a $21m loss for the first three months of this year as dwindling visitor numbers, gaming restrictions and ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred plagued the embattled casino operator. Star revealed revenue for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year was down nine per cent from the December quarter to $271m – a 35 per cent year-on-year fall. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation – which measures the business' core profitability – was down to a $21m loss from an $8m drop in the previous quarter. The company is also likely to face a $400m fine from the financial crimes agency Austrac over money laundering breaches over several years and will come under further restrictions to crack down on illegal activities.
West Australian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Labor campaign director and national secretary Paul Erickson reveals strategy behind landslide election win
The mastermind behind Labor's historic election victory has said Anthony Albanese being in the 'form of a lifetime', a hyper-targeted strategy across states, and Peter Dutton 'missing every opportunity' were among his recipe for success in a long-term plan. Outlining the behind-the-scenes strategy that delivered at least 93 lower house seats, ALP national secretary Paul Erickson was scathing of the Coalition's campaign, accusing it of being consumed by culture wars and guided by flawed readings of Tony Abbott's 2013 landslide and the failed Voice to Parliament referendum. He said his team etched a stark contrast between Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton, portraying the PM as 'steady, authentic, and measured', while describing the turfed former Opposition Leader as 'gloomy', 'downcast', and most animated when 'magnifying Australia's problems'. 'From the first Monday of January through to election day, the Prime Minister was in the form of a lifetime,' Mr Erickson said. 'Albo was in his element, connecting with everyday people. While the Prime Minister was telling a positive story about who we are and where we're going, Peter Dutton was gloomy about the country. 'In contrast, Peter Dutton promised to drag the country backwards. Back to the relentless, infected division of culture wars. 'Peter Dutton never missed an opportunity, to miss an opportunity.' He said Labor won big in 2025 because Australians accepted two simple arguments: First, Mr Albanese was the only leader with a plan to make Australians better off over the next three years and in uncertain times, Mr Dutton represented 'an unacceptable risk'. He said several uncontrolled external influences played into the campaign, but played to Mr Albanese's hands as 'critical leadership tests', including Donald Trump's liberation day tariffs, ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and ANZAC Day neo-Nazi incidents. It resulted in a thumping majority win for the party and the first election since 1966 where the incumbent party didn't lose a seat. However, it came despite boasting a historically low 34.6 per cent primary vote. 'In the campaign, you're not so much focused on trying to drive up that number as you are trying to run the strongest possible campaigns in all the places that they need to be in to get to a majority,' he said. 'In a world of a declining primary vote for major parties, it means that there's no such thing as a safe seat. You have to make sure that you're running the strongest possible candidates and campaigns everywhere in the country.' Throughout his address Mr Erickson also delivered an extensive thank you to his team and for creating 'the only CHQ (campaign headquarters) I've ever seen that people didn't want to leave'. In a list of lessons he handed down to the embattled Opposition, he urged the now fractured Coalition to abandon its nuclear energy policy. The policy had played a huge role in Labor's paid communications in the final stretch, including their headline 'He cuts, you pay' campaign. He urged the Liberals to instead embrace the economic opportunities of the energy transition. 'They operate in an echo chamber,' he said. Mr Erickson criticised the Coalition's strategy of maintaining unity at all costs, resulted in 'lowest common denominator' policies. 'As a result, the ideas that the Coalition put forward in the term and in the campaign were a pitiful crop, cultivated in the poor and infertile patch of common ground the Coalition agreed to stand on,' he said. He said a 'misread' of the Voice to Parliament reject had convinced the Coalition that a 'century-old reluctance to change the constitution, represented a realignment of Australian politics and an endorsement of their narrow world view'. He highlighted their approach of opposing everything Labor proposed and trading middle-class urban supporters for potential gains in outer suburbs. '(They chose to) trade in their middle class supporters and urban electorates for a path to victory built on frustration with inflation in the outer suburbs and regions,' he said. The party was more focused on claiming 'front-runner status' than explaining their vision and 'what they would do if they won'. Teal threat and review Mr Erickson also committed at the Press Club address to reviewing the Teals attempts to take Labor-held seats. He acknowledged the close calls in electorates like WA's Fremantle and ACT's Bean with independent challenges but said it wasn't a local phenomena but more of a broader trend. 'There's no such thing as a safe seat anymore,' he said. 'We were not surprised to see those independent challenges emerge. We'll be having a look at what that means and how we campaign to me It reinforces them as such thing as a safe seat.' Kate Huelett on Wednesday warned her narrow loss to Labor's Josh Wilson in the formerly safe seat 'really feels like a turning point' in Teals targeting Labor seats: 'I think this is a real warning shot'. Mr Erickson revealed Labor dedicated resources to counter the Greens, especially after their 2022 successes in Queensland. He said the Coalition's blocking strategy meant for the past three-year term, Labor had to 'deal with' the Greens, who he claimed were also intent on blocking Labor policies. 'The sore points after the 2022 election for Labor was the recognition that we had underestimated the threat from the Greens,' he said. Mr Erickson dismissed right-wing group Advance's claims of knocking Greens out of seats, including their former leader Adam Bandt in Melbourne. He suggested their messaging was ineffective compared to Labor's efforts and more about appealing to donors than actually influencing progressive voters. 'Content that Advance were putting out about the Greens, it was a very different quality that was making them a much harsher marketing argument. 'I think it had more to do with appealing to the views and concerns of their donors than it did to actually having an impact among progressive votes.' Mr Erickson said Labor invested heavily in reaching voters through emerging media platforms, working with influencers to meet voters where they were. 'The media landscape has changed, that's clear. It's continuing to evolve, and the pace of change is accelerating. 'We also tried to connect with lots of new and emerging forms of media, new content creators, podcasters, things like that, and made the effort to be everywhere.' He said the Prime Minister also had a better relationship with the traditional media through the press gallery and was available to the travelling press pack multiple times daily as well as addressing the National Press Club in the final week of the campaign. Asked about misinformation around advertising Coalition's potential Medicare cuts, known as Labor's 'Mediscare campaign', Mr Erickson stood firmly behind Labor's advertising, stating they were comfortable with their assertions. 'On truth in political advertising. It's been in our platform since 2021 that Australia needs a truth in political advertising framework,' he said. 'I'm sure that all of the ads that we ran in this campaign would have sailed through (the current political advertising framework). 'There's some very good questions to work through there. I'm sure that the Joint Standing Committee on electoral matters will take that up as part of their inquiry into the election. 'There's a set of really important questions that need to be worked through about who the umpire is, how the process works, what the penalties and the sanctions are, because you've got to get the balance right, and you don't want to end up having a dampening effectt.' He was also asked if Labor would use their new-found political power with a majority of at least 93 in the lower house and a friendly Senate for major reform which unions and business have called for. Mr Erickson said Labor would stick to the policy agenda they presented at the election and cautioned them getting ahead of themselves. 'I think that there was a lot of ambition in the plan for the next three years. We need to be stay very round and just stay focused on delivering the agenda that we were elected on, and I think that that's that is where the focus has been over the first few weeks, and that's where it needs to remain.' In the final weeks, Labor's tracking polls showed voters believed the Coalition had 'told the most lies' during the campaign. 'Our tracking poll found that voters believed that Labor's campaign was more focused on the issues that mattered,' he said. 'Labor was the best party to make them personally better off over the next three years by a margin of 12 points. The Coalition had told the most lies during the campaign by a margin of five points. And the Coalition ran the more negative campaign by marking the 11 points. 'These results are the ultimate indictment of the Coalition's closing focus on cultural wars instead of cost of living.'
West Australian
07-05-2025
- West Australian
‘Concerned': Alarming note issued by Brisbane Council
Tents in a well established homeless encampment in inner city Brisbane have been slapped with eviction notices by the local council, while landscaping works occur around their dwellings. The Brisbane City Council have plastered stickers on tents in Musgrave Park, located in South Brisbane, warning owners that if they were not collected by May 7, they may be confiscated or disposed of. 'If you need help with housing options, please contact the Safe Communities Team on (07) 3403 8888,' the notice said. The park is currently undergoing works in preparation to host the Paniyiri Festival held from Saturday May 17 to Monday May 19. Throughout the festival, the park will be temporarily fenced off to the public, and only those who have purchased a ticket will be allowed access. A Brisbane City Council spokesperson said the move-on orders aligned with a new approach to homelessness in the city outlined in March, and were unrelated to the festival. 'Brisbane residents have grown increasingly concerned about the violence, drug use and anti-social behaviour occurring in tent encampments in parks,' they said. 'As a result, we're taking a calm, measured and considered approach with the Department of Housing, Police and Queensland Health to get people out of dangerous encampments and into safe accommodation.' The homeless encampment at Musgrave Park has received widespread attention after multiple attempts to remove the tent city by Brisbane City Council failed. In March this year, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner outlined a new policy whereby in instances where people camping in parks refuse accommodation or assistance, they would be asked to move on within 24 hours. At the time, Mr Schrinner said he believed most campers were 'homeless by choice'. He said that the people in the homeless encampments refused assistance from the Council and other organisations during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and that accommodation was available to them. Greens Councillor Tina Massey said the removal of vulnerable people from Musgrave Park ahead of this year's Paniyiri festival marked a 'harsh and regressive shift' from the inclusive planning of previous years. 'Dutton's vision for Australia continues right here in Brisbane under the cruel leadership of Lord Mayor Schrinner,' she said. 'I urge the Lord Mayor and Premier to stop criminalising homelessness and start investing in real solutions. We need more social and affordable housing, not more fines and forced relocations.' Greens Senator Larissa Waters urged the Lord Mayor to reconsider his approach to tackling homelessness in Brisbane. 'It is appalling The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is striking vulnerable people sleeping rough with this heartless policy. 'Criminalising poverty is never a solution to poverty. What people without homes need are homes. 'We have the tools to really fix the crisis in this country and the Greens urge all levels of government to use them.' A spokesperson from local charity Northwest Community Group said Brisbane City Council and event organisers for the Greek Food Festival have not adequately provided support to those who are being relocated for the events. 'The festival is an annual event, usually they have a special area put aside for people experiencing homelessness but this year they are just kicking everyone out,' they said. The Northwest Community Group has organised a sit-in at the Park on Wednesday May 7, calling for event organisers to consider the needs of the homeless people who will be forced to relocate. 'People were left in the dark about what was going to happen and where they were meant to go,' a post to the group's social media said. 'The festival footprint maps were not finalised until the day the fences went up, and they were never shared.' In October last year, Brisbane City Council cut the electricity to two homeless tent cities at Musgrave Park and Kurilpa Point Park, leaving them without access to power outlets or barbecues. At the time, Greens Councillor Trina Massey said: 'This callous act denied people sleeping rough the ability to cook food on BBQs or charge their phones – possibly leading to missed calls with offers of housing from the Department of Housing.' 'The removal of power has already made our parks less safe for all community members. Rough sleepers are now resorting to potentially much more dangerous gas based equipment to enable them to cook meals, the most basic of human rights,' she said. 'I've already been told that a gas canister has exploded.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussies still cautious as retail trade creeps higher
Consumer spending continues to tick higher, albeit at a sluggish pace, especially in supermarkets and grocery stores. Retail trade rose 0.3 per cent in March for a strong annual pace of 4.3 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday. The data implies that a Reserve Bank cash interest rate cut in February had little impact on spending in March. That cut to 4.10 per cent was the first in four years. "Retail spending continues to grow at a steady pace, with food-related spending in supermarkets and grocery stores the main driver of growth," ABS business statistics head Robert Ewing said. "Supermarket and grocery store sales were especially strong in Queensland, where households stockpiled essentials in anticipation of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred." Turnover for the month totalled $37.3 billion. Food retailing had the largest rise in turnover, up 0.7 per cent, along with other retailing, while sales fell 0.5 per cent for cafes, restaurants and takeaway food, along with services and department stores. Spending on clothing, footwear and accessories rose 0.3 per cent in the month. Retail spending grew in all states in March except Queensland, which was in the midst of Alfred. "The extreme weather early in the month led to significant disruptions for businesses and households throughout Queensland," Mr Ewing said. "These included temporary business closures for many retailers, particularly cafes and restaurants, while people were also advised to stay home and avoid unnecessary travel." The statistics bureau also released the producer price index, a measure of inflation for sellers of goods and services. It rose 0.3 per cent in the March quarter to be up 3.7 per cent over the year. The retail spending figures will play a role in the Reserve Bank's next decision on May 20 on monetary policy, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said. The current market consensus is for a cut of up to 25 points on the day, taking the rate to under three per cent.
