James Packer has put Crown’s name in the ring to develop a second casino and luxury hotel in Brisbane’s CBD should the Queensland Government grant another license for the city.
The Queensland Government is currently finalising its casino policy for the city and during a speech in Brisbane yesterday, Packer said should that come up, he wants look at the opportunity of developing an integrated Crown resort in the city.
“The [Premier, Campbell] Newman Government has a real issue – do they want to keep it a one casino town or do they want to open it up and see if we can do a better job?” the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported Packer as saying at a charity event on Wednesday (Oct 2). “I humbly think we would do a better job.”
The sole casino license in Brisbane is held by Echo Entertainment, which operates the Treasury Hotel and Casino in the city, as well as Jupiters on the Gold Coast.