In Australia, the Queensland government has indicated that the two mega-resorts backed by Chinese developers are likely to be given casino licences.
This would make Cairns and the Gold Coast the country’s only region with more than one casino. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the conditional approval of the six-star resorts in Cairns and the Gold Coast is a boon for overseas tourism.
“These projects have the potential to create thousands of new jobs in these two key tourism centres,” he said. However, there is strong opposition to the new resorts.
Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, said these regional casinos, in areas of high unemployment, would aggressively compete for local problem gamblers if there was a downturn in international high rollers.
“This is very foolish and shortsighted. It’s madness,” he said. “Their business model, because they’re never up front about it, is always heavily reliant on local custom.”
It is expected that by 2019 Sydney will have two casinos when James Packer’s Crown Entertainment opens the Barangaroo development exclusively for VIP players.
Queensland currently has more casinos than anywhere else in Australia, with four of the country’s 13 gaming venues in the sunshine state.
