Australia looks to make new gaming surge.
THE casino gaming market in Australia has been marking time for many years now.
The country’s 13 casinos have clearly been enough for its population of around 23 million. But now that is all about to change as Australia goes after the Asian market in a big way.
New casinos in New South Wales and Queensland will aim to attract visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia, boosting Australia’s casino industry quite substantially.
Crown Resorts last month got the go-ahead for its project at Barangaroo in New South Wales. Barangaroo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, located at the north-western edge of the city’s central business district and the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Crown has been issued with a restricted gaming licence by the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort at Barangaroo South.
The casino is set to open in late 2019 and the licence only permits VIP gambling at the $1.3bn complex. Poker machines will not be allowed. While the government has entered into a “binding agreement” with Crown to develop the “VIP restricted gaming facility” at Barangaroo, approvals are still needed before the project can proceed.
The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority will need to consider if Crown is a suitable casino operator and the proposed six-star hotel resort will need planning approval.
However, Crown is unlikely to have difficulty proving to NSW authorities it is a fit and proper operator of gambling facilities having passed a probity test in May to increase its stake in rival Echo Entertainment, owner of Sydney’s Star casino. The indications are that the legislation is likely to pass the NSW upper house with the support of the government and the cross bench. Crown chief James Packer said he was “humbled” by the government’s decision.
“Sydney is one of the world’s great cities,” he said. “It deserves one of the world’s great hotels. I am going to do everything I can to try and make Crown Sydney the best hotel in the world.” He said Crown believed the development would “help attract Asian high net worth travellers to Sydney, in particular from China.”
The government proposes to grant Crown a 99-year gaming licence to operate a casino without poker machines and minimum bet limits of $30 for baccarat, $20 for blackjack and $25 for roulette. It states only “members and guests” are allowed to gamble at the casino.
Read the full article in the August issue of InterGaming
