Australian casino mogul James Packer has outflanked his gaming rivals, winning the go-ahead to open Sydney's second casino.
Packer, whose casino empire extends to Macau, Britain and the United States, says the new gaming room will be the world's first billion-dollar casino without slot machines.
He plans to build a A$1 billion (S$1.03 billion), 70-storey luxury resort and VIP gaming room on one of the city's most prime locations, Barangaroo, a new waterside precinct opposite Darling Harbour.
Aimed at high rollers from China, the 150-table casino will be invitation-only and all staff will speak fluent Mandarin.
The deal has been controversial, since the New South Wales government approved the project without a tender process and with no public consultation.
The casino is due to begin operating in 2019 after the expiry of the exclusive licence held by Sydney's only casino, The Star. The owners of The Star, Echo Entertainment, have lashed out against the lack of a tender for the second gaming licence, and said Sydney should not have more than one casino.
But the company was outmanoeuvred by Packer, who has long coveted the ownership of a Sydney casino. He and his late father, Kerry Packer, tried almost 20 years ago to win the state's first licence, and were furious when they lost out.
In his bid for the new casino, he took a shrewd approach to navigating the state's corridors of power. He hired some of the country's top political lobbyists, including two former Labor Party powerbrokers, Mr Karl Bitar and Mark Arbib, a recently retired federal minister.
They helped him quietly win over the state's Premier, Barry O'Farrell, and its Labor opposition - a wise move that has meant that there has been no strong political voice to oppose the new casino.
Packer's new casino is expected to produce about A$114 million a year in taxes to the state.
O'Farrell said he would not approve poker machines for the new casino, but highlighted the project's economic benefits and its potential to lure new tourists from Asia. The casino is expected to create 1,300 jobs during construction and 1,200 jobs when it is operational. It will have 350 rooms, including 70 suites for VIPs.
"(It is) invitation-only gaming, individuals will not be able to walk off the street to access the facilities," O'Farrell said. "When fully operational, it could inject more than A$300 million a year into the state's economy. It is about trying to ensure that Sydney attracts investment... it's about growing the tourism sector."
One of the most vocal critics has been Sydney's popular Lord Mayor, Ms Clover Moore, who slammed the fast-tracked deal.
"I think the process has been appalling," she said. "There's no public consultation, and it's all been done behind closed doors by both the major parties to James Packer... Here we have a major, major development where there's no tendering."
Packer argued that Australia needs to compete with gaming hubs such as Singapore to attract Chinese high rollers. He has been pushing Australia to follow Singapore's adoption of fast-tracked tourist visas applied for via the Internet.
"We have the most amazing environment, but just as Singapore did, we need to combine that with world class man-made attractions if we are to succeed in the future," he told a tourism and transport summit in Canberra last week.
"Our international competitors get it, and are throwing everything at a coordinated and well-funded strategy to attract more high-net worth travellers. We need to do the same."
Packer said the new resort would be an iconic building that complements the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
"Sydney deserves it, Australia deserves it," he said. "When Sydney is prosperous, the rest of the country benefits economically."
Post a Comment
Post a Comment