A major reshuffling in Queensland’s government means two regional casino bids – ASF Consortium and Aquis Resorts – could be forced to redraw their respective proposals.
The new state government of Annastacia Palaszczuk, which assumed control from the Newman administration in January, has yet to identify a plan of action on how to proceed with the bids, leaving the resort casino proposals in limbo.
Tim Poole, ASF Consortium’s project director in Queensland, told the Australian that all-encompassing revisions are on the table but the lack of direction from the new government has made it difficult for the company to gauge where to begin.
“We’ve requested meetings and our plan is to sit down and discuss the master plan we’ve undertaken since last October,” Poole said. “We feel it’s important to go through what has been done.”
Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung’s proposed Aquis casino resort in Cairns is also looking for some clarity, particularly given its plan to raise capital in Hong Kong to help fund the $8 billion development.
Right now, the developer is mulling how to deliver the different project stages for the proposed integrated resort in the right time frame. Project Director Pat Flanagan said that developers needed “certainty from the government about a future casino license agreement.”
We’re really in a holding pattern until we know what the new government’s policies will be,” Flanagan added.
