The Queensland government is undermining the Queen’s Wharf project through its own secrecy and wilful ignorance of the casino’s impact on the community.
In what one expert says is an attempt to “avoid unpleasant news”,the Qld government has failed to carry out a full community impact study on the Brisbane casino.
The Queensland government’s handling of the study prompted QUT researchers to warn of an “unjustified climate of suspicion”.
The official sale period for Brisbane’s Treasury buildings has begun,putting a fresh question mark over the river end of the mall’s future. But within this current state of flux,a bigger question needs to be asked.
Premier Chris Minns said his government was obligated to negotiate with Crown Sydney over its $1 billion tax guarantee,but no more.
Crown Sydney wants to renegotiate the 2013 agreement in which it promised to pay $1 billion in gaming taxes over 15 years,citing economic and regulatory changes.
A government agency ostensibly missed important details about a questionable casino partner. Who should investigate? The same agency,naturally.
The casino giant’s profits have been wiped out for the third year in a row,but it’s a significant improvement on its near $1 billion loss in 2022.
The Queensland government already had extensive knowledge of a Queen’s Wharf Brisbane company’s links with Asian organised crime when it claimed media reports were “very concerning”.
If a combined $1.6 billion rescue doesn’t do the trick,Star chief Robbie Cooke would be well aware that he can’t take a third bite at the equity apple.
A fast-growing Sydney-based share trading platform and a casino giant run by a pair of Melbourne-based twenty-something billionaires are locking horns.