AG says Aquis caused the delay
Jessica Mellor, the CEO of Hong Kong’s Aquis Entertainment Ltd., says officials of the Australian Capital Territory have kept the company waiting 17 months for a decision on its proposed AU$330 million (US$$257 million) Canberra Casino redevelopment.
The company’s original 2015 bid, which included a proposal for 500 slot machines, was rejected by the ACT government. In May 2016, the government countered with a plan that would allow Aquis to install 200 slot machines and 60 electronic table games subject to certain conditions.
Earlier this month, ACT gave Aquis until mid-May to submit a final proposal or risk losing the 200 slots. Expressing surprise, Mellor replied that her company “lodged the detailed business case for the project in June 2016 and did not receive advice from the government for some 17 months.” She said government input “will be required to clarify a number of outstanding issues.”
Mellor added that Aquis “remains committed to pursuing the company’s vision of delivering a world-class project that will contribute significant urban renewal and economic development benefits to Canberra and will continue to work with the government” to advance the plan.
Last year, the Greens and Labor reached the 200-pokies compromise, which provides that one in every three licenses bought from clubs are forfeited. Attorney General Gordon Ramsay insists that “critical information” about Aquis’ site plans has not yet been provided. Ramsay also said the casino expansion and the potential it included for the surrender of 130 licenses is central to the government’s plans to cut machines in the ACT from about 4,900 to 4,000 by 2020.
According to the Canberra Times, Aquis’ initial $330 million redevelopment bid in 2015 was “unsolicited.”
Opposition gaming spokesman Mark Parton said the situation has now become “a debacle,” adding that he understands if Aquis is “a little miffed at how their relationship with the ACT government has changed so dramatically.
“Having not responded to the original business case for 17 months, for the government to then radically change the conditions surrounding the development and to expect a new proposal to materialize in a few months is ludicrous,” Parton said.
