Weeks was appointed to The Star by the NSW Independent Casino Commission on the day it was stripped of its casino licence in October 2022 for what was supposed to be a three-month period. His term has since been extended three times on the request of the regulator,which remains unconvinced the company has committed to cultural renewal.
Adam Bell,SC,has been engaged by the regulator to assess how the company has progressed in the two years since his first inquiry.
The Pyrmont business could be shut down if it does not regain its licence,which would end the employment of 3000 people and cut billions of dollars in tax contributions from the state government’s bottom line.
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Weeks – who has held the company’s casino licence since it was disgraced in 2022 – said he believed thebusiness’s recently departed boss,Robbie Cooke,had worked hard but ultimately failed to juggle the requirements of keeping the business afloat with the demands of remediation.
He said he was surprised by text message exchanges between the company’s executive chair,David Foster,and Cooke,which referred to plans to oust him from the company,including a proposal to concoct a shareholder-led class action against him and the regulator. Weeks said the exchanges exemplified his view the company was focused on the wrong things.
“I find it extraordinary that the chairman of a listed company and its chief executive would exchange messages contemplating a class action against me personally and the regulator in circumstances where their public position with me is that they’re working co-operatively to address deficiencies that they need to address,” Weeks said.