This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Queensland government has selected the $8.15 billion Aquis project in Cairns and $7.5 billion Broadwater Marine Project on the Gold Coast, to proceed to the next stage of development.
Deputy premier and state development, infrastructure and planning minister Jeff Seeney said Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef Pty Ltd and the ASF Consortium Pty Ltd would be able to receive a casino licence if their projects proceeded and met all the necessary environmental, planning and gaming licensing approvals.
ASF Consortium is part of ASF Group, an Australian Stock Exchange listed company backed by two Chinese state-owned entities, while Aquis is owned by Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung.
Seeney said both Aquis and the ASF Consortium would now have the opportunity to put forward more details about their proposed developments.
“The QLD government has identified that these projects have the greatest capacity to deliver the requirements for an integrated resort development in the regions, particularly the potential to attract interstate and international tourists as both these centres have international airports.
“These projects have the potential to create thousands of new jobs in these two key tourism centres, with Aquis indicating its project could create more than 3,700 construction jobs and more than 10,000 ongoing operational jobs.
“The ASF Consortium has indicated its Broadwater integrated resort and cruise ship terminal could create 1,300 construction jobs and more than 10,000 ongoing operational jobs,” he added.
In October last year, the Newman government announced it would issue three new casino licenses in the state. One license has been earmarked for the government precinct in Brisbane’s CBD, as part of an integrated development.
QLD already has two casinos, both held by Echo Entertainment for the Treasury Hotel and Casino Brisbane and Jupiters Hotel & Casino Gold Coast.
Seeney said the other four regional EOI participants submitted proposals that were only in the early stages of development and their projects needed a considerable amount of work before they could meet the criteria set down for this process.
“A number of projects faced challenges such as lack of access to an international airport, which meant they could not operate internationally competitive resorts or boost international visitor numbers to Queensland.
“That said, as with all major projects, the Queensland Government is happy to continue to work with them to progress their potential developments,” he concluded.
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