A supplied image of an artist's impression for the proposed Crown hotel and high roller casino at Barangaroo in Sydney.James Packer's Crown group has entered into a final binding agreement with the NSW government for its VIP casino and six-star hotel at Barangaroo.
The agreement follows the completion of negotiations under stage three of the unsolicited proposals policy, Premier Barry O'Farrell told reporters on Monday.
Mr O'Farrell said relevant legislation would be introduced into parliament this week.
"What we have agreed is to introduce legislation for a restricted gaming facility to be allowed to operate at Barangaroo south from November 2019," he said.
The agreement for the $1.5 billion facility includes no low-limit bets on table games, no pokies and VIP gaming only.
The government says licence fees and gaming taxes will reap a guaranteed minimum of $1 billion over the first 15 years.
Mr O'Farrell defended the step towards a second casino in Sydney.
"This is about high-worth individuals engaging in gaming," he said.
"It's estimated, and on the basis on Crown's Victorian experience, that five per cent of local gamers would use this facility, but these are people who would gamble between $300,000-400,000 a year - clearly beyond the means of most people."
No comments:
Post a Comment