|
World-class casino's rent? Just $1 a year, by
Michael Warner - 12th September 2008
(Credit:
herald Sun)
MELBOURNE'S
Crown casino is paying just $1 a year in rent
for the site of the Southbank gambling mecca.
Full details of Crown's extraordinary 99-year
lease were revealed for the first time yesterday
in a report tabled in State Parliament.
The
deal, signed in 1993, requires Crown to pay just
$1 for the first 40 years of the lease and market
value for the final 59 years.
"That
was determined at the time by the people who negotiated
the deal," casino spokesman Gary O'Neill
said yesterday.
"It
was a derelict piece of land before we got a hold
of it."
But
Mr O'Neill said Crown had since paid $200 million
in licence fees and more than $2.5 billion in
taxes.
And
he revealed control of the 5ha riverside property
would be handed back to the state after the expiry
of the 99-year lease.
The
Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation report
- the findings of a five-year review of the casino
complex - also urged Crown chiefs to work harder
in identifying gamblers likely to be punting with
stolen money.
"The
commission expects that Crown Melbourne will review
its monitoring systems and implement changes so
as to better identify situations where gamblers
could be gambling with other people's money,"
the report says.
The
report reveals an average of almost 7000 under-age
youths are caught each month trying to enter the
public gaming floor.
Another
2000 problem gamblers and troublemakers have been
permanently banned.
One
blacklisted punter was forced to forfeit more
than $48,000 in winnings after being detected
in the gaming area.
A
total of 207 breaches of table game rules and
procedures have been detected by VCGR inspectors
since 2003.
But
the report said Crown met the requirements of
a world-class casino.
"In
particular, the range and quality of restaurants
far exceeds those available at any other Australian
casino, and is on a par with the best of the international
casinos.
"The
commission is also satisfied that . . . there
has generally been public confidence and trust
in the credibility, integrity and stability of
casino operations due to the manner in which the
Melbourne casino has been managed.
"Accordingly,
it is in the public interest that the casino licence
remains in force."
VCGR
inspectors compared Crown across a range of areas
with leading casinos in Las Vegas and Macau.
Mr
O'Neill said the report was an overwhelming endorsement
of Crown.
Greg
Tingle comment...
If
you can get cheap rent you would be mad not to
take it, casino, billionaire, or not! James Packer
learned from the best of them. The latest developments
with Star City Casino in Sydney should give James
Packer a run for his money. I'm waiting on Richard
Branson to make his next move and I don't think
it will involve Betfair. My money's on Rupert
Murdoch to make a major play in the online casino
business.
Profiles
Crown
Casino
News
Casino
News
Australian
Casino News
|
