The Queensland government has announced it will entertain bids on a second Gold Coast casino to add jobs, stoke the local economy and boost tourism.
Opponents decry the move, saying officials are turning the state into another Nevada; their unlikely ally in the protest is Star Entertainment Group, which runs the Star Casino at Broadbeach. Star insists the market is already saturated.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones told ABC News the government will open an “expression-of-interest” process for a $1 billion integrated resort that includes “a major Gold Coast concert venue, new entertainment facilities, convention space, high-end dining and retail experience.”
Bidders will be able to identify their preferred development sites, but some locations are off-limits, including the Southport Spit, a major park north of Surfers Paradise, and Wave Break Island in the Southport Broadwater, the sites of the ASF Consortium’s failed casino proposal.
“We don’t want a decision made in Brisbane about where the best place on the Gold Coast should be,” Jones said. “What we’re saying is we’ll go to market and the market can come forward with what the sites they think stacks up.” A Gold Coast Tourism Advisory Panel will be created to weigh in on the casino proposals, she added.
The government estimates a second casino and resort in the state will create 6,000 new local jobs. But that’s not incentive enough for opponents including Stephen Mayne of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. He says Queensland is already the second-worst state in Australia for gambling losses, at an average of more than $1,000 per person.
“The idea they are going to have six casinos in Queensland, I mean they are turning it into a Nevada,” Mayne said. He called gambling “a fundamentally destructive industry that doesn’t create any net economic benefit because of the huge social harm it causes.”
He expressed concern that officials could allow more pokie machines in the state, which he says is already oversupplied. “We think there should be a decrease in Queensland and there certainly shouldn’t be any increase on the Gold Coast given that $330 million a year is already lost at Gold Coast pubs and clubs which have poker machines.”
Meanwhile, Jones told ABC that Star is free to apply for a second casino. “If the Star wants to put forward an integrated resort and can build the case they should be the only proponent (on the Gold Coast) then we are welcome to that, but we want a true integrated resort that delivers increased public infrastructure for Gold Coast residents.”
Star Entertainment Group Queensland Managing Director Geoff Hogg said the company has already committed itself to a $2 billion expansion at its Broadbeach site. “We are very pleased to have done public consultation in 2016 and then to get the government approval to be able to expand up to another four towers on the island, in addition to the tower we have already commenced,” Hogg said.
Meanwhile, Star Casino in Sydney is set to introduce facial recognition technology to boost security after a dealer was caught on camera attempting to steal a $5,000 chip, reported the Gold Coast Bulletin. The security upgrade is reportedly part of a $10 million package to revitalize the casino, with cameras to be installed in high-risk areas over the coming months. Surveillance technology will be able to zoom in on people’s faces and match them to faces in the data bank.
