A blue-ribbon panel appointed by New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell is due today to deliver its recommendation on competing multibillion-dollar casino proposals for Sydney.
Mr O’Farrell’s cabinet will also review the report, which will be released to the public in some form, a government spokesman said this week. Mr O’Farrell is expected to announce his decision tomorrow.
At stake are rival plans offered by Echo Entertainment, which operates The Star casino and hotel in the Pyrmont section of Darling Harbour under an exclusive license with the state, and Melbourne-based Crown Limited, which wants to build a luxury resort with a VIP casino across the harbor at the Barangaroo waterfront development complex near downtown.
Each company has produced expert assessments touting its project. The panel was charged with recommending which one promises the greatest overall economic benefit to Australia’s largest city.
Crown’s plan calls for a 60-story hotel tower with luxury residences and other attractions at a cost of A$1.5 billion. Its target market would be Asian high rollers. Echo is offering to spend $1.1 billion to expand The Star with two new hotels and other tourist amenities and another $130 million on parklands and a pedestrian bridge connecting Pyrmont and Barangaroo. The company also is offering the government $250 million for a 15-year extension of its monopoly casino licence.
Crown argues its Crown Sydney would draw millions of visitors, generate about $400 million in extra economic activity in New South Wales, create 1,400 new jobs and generate $114 million in gaming tax revenue.
Echo disputes that, claiming Crown’s projections are vastly overblown and that a second casino would cannibalize the market and ultimately cost the state revenue. Echo says its expansion would result in an extra 330,000 international and interstate visitors, a $350 million boost to the state’s economy, 1,460 new jobs and $63 million in increased gambling and payroll taxes each year.
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