US President Donald Trump wanted to build Sydney’s first ever casino only for Australia’s New South Wales state government to blacklist him after local police warned of his “mafia connections”.
The Australian newspaper revealed documents this week from a secret 1987 report by the NSW Police Board into the suitability of four tenders for an integrated resort to be built in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, close to where The Star now resides in Pyrmont. The Star opened in 1995.
Trump’s joint venture with Queensland developer Kern Corporation was deemed “dangerous” based on alleged mafia links related to his Atlantic City properties Trump Plaza, Trump’s Castle and Trump Taj Mahal.
“Atlantic City would be a dubious model for Sydney and in our judgment, the Trump mafia connections should exclude the Kern/Trump consortium,” the police board said at the time.
Two other bids – one from Hong Kong Macau Sydney consortium and another from Australian Federal Hotels and Sabemo – were also ruled out.
“The board is firmly of the view that on tests of sound repute, probity and integrity, none of the three consortia discussed above can be considered acceptable; indeed each would be dangerous,” the report said.
Malaysia’s Genting Berhad was the only bidder deemed appropriate but the project was eventually canned before it progressed any further.
A financial report into the Trump/Kern consortium also revealed that it had overestimated revenues from the casino.
Mr Trump told The Australian at the time of the bid that, “If our design is chosen, it will not only be the largest, but one of the most magnificent, one of the most beautiful hotels anywhere in the world.”
A businessman involved in Trump’s bid in 1987 and who met with Mr Trump in New York to negotiate the joint venture with Kern told The Australian this week, “The plan was for the Kern Corporation to build the casino and for Trump to run it because he had the license and experience in Atlantic City. I was not aware of the police report; it is the first I’ve heard of any mafia connections.’’
