Gutwein: “No secret deals”
If Tasmania plans a change in policy on the Federal Group’s gaming monopoly in the Australian state, it is likely to do so by Easter, reports the website CalvinAyre.com.
The government’s agreement with Federal, operator of the Wrest Point Casino, does not expires until 2023, but it comes up for renewal in 2018. And some lawmakers are saying it’s time for the deal to end.
Independent Australian lawmaker Andrew Wilkie says the license should be put out for open tender before the current term expires. “The consideration of that would be going on now,” said the Denison MP last year. “Surely that renewal of that license should be through an open tender process where the new license holder or license holders will pay a fair market value for that license. Otherwise it’s just another good gift for a good mate at the expense of the Tasmanian taxpayer.”
And in a 2015 editorial, the Sunday Tasmanian agreed, saying Treasurer Peter Gutwein “should make his first act of the New Year a vow to sort it out.”
Of course, the Federal Group “would like the deed to continue like business as usual,” the editorial noted. “In fact, $100 million worth of future investments—including a $70 million rejig of Wrest Point—has been tied to it, in a move widely described as blackmail.”
That was a reference to the company’s planned $70 million makeover of the resort, which will include new restaurants and bars and a VIP gaming room to attract international high rollers. The company also plans to invest $20 million to develop a luxury hotel in Port Arthur, and an additional $10 million to renovate Country Club Tasmania. Greg Farrell, CEO and managing director of the Federal Group, insists the company cannot proceed without the ongoing monopoly. “We require certainty around the future of our operations in order to embark on a project of this size,” he has said. “With a new license, we would be able to lodge a development application very quickly.”
Businessman and professional gambler David Walsh, known for his Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, says he will not move forward with his own multimillion-dollar casino plan if Federal gets an extension of its poker monopoly. According to the Tasmanian, some 100 betting clubs around the state that also offer poker machines should have a voice in the decision. Also in the mix is a coalition of 15 community organizations is asking for a phase-out of all poker machines in Tasmania, citing the $200 million lost by players each year.
Gutwein has promised “no secret deals” in the matter. “The government will clarify its position within the next six weeks, and then Tasmanians will have the benefit of an open and transparent process,” he said earlier this month. But subsequent comments were anything but transparent: “We’ll lay down some policy markers, we will go into that process with those policy markers, (and) obviously, we will listen to the feedback that comes through that process,” Gutwein said. “So I think it’s important that we lay we down policy markers, but then we can have those tested through a process where we can receive feedback on those ideas.”
In a statement, Federal Group said it “looks forward to hearing more about the government’s intentions on this issue in the coming weeks.”
