It has been about 6 weeks since I updated all of you that took the time to sign this petition.  All of the affected players and I are very grateful for your support.

During this time it has been confirmed on several occasions that Withdrawal of Licence (WOL) matters are only between the The Star and the patron, common law, i.e. nothing to regulators, NICC, OLGR, ILGA etc.

I had a meeting 22/11/2023 with two The Star Executives and a second meeting today (20/12/2023) with three of The Star General Managers of Gaming, Risk and Financial Crime. It is positive that the The Star is open to meetings, each meeting has been very respectful, they have listened to concerns and reasons why these bans appear to be completely unfair, have thanked me for the feedback, explanations, poker community concerns, have said they will take it on board and get back to me in the new year, hopefully with some solutions and reasonable outcomes. 

It was explained by The Star representatives in each of these meetings they are highly regulated, they are under severe pressure to stop money laundering and the casino being used as a carriage in organised crime. We obviously know all this, and I'm sure we can understand and accept The Star's position to comply with regulation, including AUSTRAC, AML/CTF obligations as well as stopping any criminal activity. That's completely fine by us.

• I have made the point that players don't actually know what the bans are for exactly, there is no communication and we still don't know the rules that have been allegedly broken and what the triggered each of these bans. It makes it almost impossible to play within the new rules and strict regulations without knowing them.  They agree the communication is lacking and they will take the feedback on board, discuss options internally and get back to us in the new year.

• The Star suggested that players would need to have their WOL matter reviewed by QCAT/NCAT which are independent Civil and Administrative Tribunals in each state, to have the matter heard from both sides. I made the point that during these hearings, documentation of the reasons for the bans will be forced to be produced by The Star, so they can save a lot of time for everyone involved by providing each player with the concern/reason/allegation now, so they can have the opportunity to clear the matter up. My simple point to them is that it is fully in the hands of The Star, they can review each WOL tomorrow if they want, they are not restricted by regulation stopping them reviewing a WOL, they don't need approval from regulators, or anyone else. Again they said they will take the feedback on board, discuss options internally and get back to us in the new year.

If there are no reasonable steps from The Star to give the banned poker players an opportunity for a review their WOL early in the new year, I will obviously keep chasing this up, there will likely be dozens of QCAT/NCAT cases submitted, and possibly further actions which will include the media.  

 At least one further high stakes player has been issued a WOL letter that attended the recent WSOPC on the Gold Coast after they arrived home. 

I would also like to congratulate many of the banned players on their significant successes in various poker festivals outside the casinos around the Australia and throughout the world. Thanks for your support and run good in the games you're playing in the interim, until these bans get sorted out. 

Thanks

Craig