Would Packer forfeit monopoly?
Colin Barnett, premier of Western Australia, wants to see an end to the ban on casino cruise ships in waters off the state coast, according to the West Australian newspaper. The law now requires that the cruises stay 12 nautical miles out to sea, a restriction Barnett says applies only to the western part of the country, reported GGRAsia.
Any change in the current laws would require the agreement of James Packer’s land-based Crown Resorts Ltd., which has an exclusive right to offer gaming within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Perth, the state capital.
Cruise ships generated AUD275.3 million (US$211.1 million) for the state in 2014-15, according to 2015 figures from the Australian Cruise Association. The state government, which credits tourism for 94,000 jobs in Western Australia and AUD8.9 billion in visitor spending per year, wants to see the latter figure increase to AUD12 billion by 2020.
Making room for cruises may be hard to sell to Crown, which operates the land-based Crown Perth; a new hotel tower is under construction at the resort, with an expected finish date of December 2016.
