“No license for you”
Liberal National Party politicians in Queensland, Australia have vowed to fight a casino development in the state.
According to the Sunshine Coast Daily, Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie said LNP members of parliament and candidates have been assured by leader Tim Nicholls he would back them up “100 percent.”
“We do not support a casino here, and don’t believe it is what people want,” Bleijie said. “We would not encourage the council to apply for a license and would do everything to reject it if they go down that path. This is not the Gold Coast. If the vision is light rail to a casino, we don’t want it.”
The opposition coalesced after Malaysian casino giant NagaCorp scoped out the area November 13. Bleijie said a casino would bring 1,000 poker machines to Maroochydore in addition to the number that already exist, with 80 percent of patronage coming from locals.
The NagaCorp delegation came in for a “two-and-a-half hour fly-in, fly-out visit,” Asia Gaming Brief reported. Among the visitors was NagaCorp owner Chen Lip Keong and Chairman Tim McNally. Along for the ride were Gary Andrews, business development director of China Railway Engineering Corp., and noted architect Paul Steelman, founder of U.S.-based Steelman Partners.
The New Zealand Casino News reports that a multimillion-dollar project for the development of a new central business district is currently under way in Maroochydore. The complex will span a 50-plus-hectare (120-acre) site in the center of town and include office buildings, a new city hall building, multiple dining and entertainment venues, convention facilities and housing.
In 2016, Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said a casino development would bring new jobs and enterprise to the area.
LNP members oppose another planned casino resort in Queensland, where Sydney-based developer Tower Holdings is looking to add a casino to its integrated resort project on the Gold Coast’s Great Keppel Island.
