NagaCorp interested in Queensland

Two licenses are currently available to operate casinos in Queensland, after the government rejected the US$2.3 billion project from ASF.

Australia.- Treasurer Curtis Pitt has recently said that after the State Government rejected a US$2.3 billion casino resort on the Gold Coast there has been renewed interest to obtain the two licenses available for Queensland.

The Queensland Government rejected the casino planned by the Chinese venture ASF Consortium late last month as the proposal didn’t comply with the desired regulations in the area. Pitt believes that Cairns could be one of the possible destinations to land a license. “I’ve indicated that in my view there is a very strong interest in Cairns and again a very strong opportunity for something to happen in Far North Queensland,” said the official as Cairns Post reported. NagaCorp is reportedly among the companies interested in a license, but didn’t comment on the possibility of being one of the license holders.

The city had proposed a casino at Yorkeys Knob in the past but it was then rejected. Pat Flanagan, in charge of overseeing the environmental impact study for that facility, said that Paradise Palms was one of the few sites that could integrate a major IR. “There’s not that many large parcels of land that are undeveloped on the coastal plain,” he said, and therefore Cairns is one of the obvious options for investors, as it’s the only region with an international airport besides the Gold Coast.

Hong Kong businessman Tony Fung is also evaluating a second plan in Australia after its first proposal was dismissed. Fung and his team were expected to invest US$8 billion to build one of the biggest integrated casino resorts in Australia. The projected facility was supposed to be developed in different phases and the first phase included building 4,000 luxury hotel rooms overlooking a number of lagoons. The company is now considering the development of a new plan in a 11,600 square meter plot of land that was acquired by his company last year for US$40 million.