The Second Casino in the Gold Coast

The government of Queensland has announced this week it has granted permission to build a second casino in the Gold Coast region.

According to local media, Mayor Tom Tate revealed he had received a written letter from State Development Minister Anthony Lynham in which he pledged support to erect a second casino resort on the Australian coast.

Although further details haven’t been disclosed, including whether the venue would be located on private or public land, it is expected the proposed second casino would be built on a large Southport site which would include Queen’s Park Tennis Club and the Southport Bowls Club.

Following the go-ahead, the state government will shortly launch a campaign seeking international developers and investors.

Despite its latest intentions, the state government ended the China-listed ASF’s $2.7bn plans for an integrated resort in the Gold Coast early in August.

“When we get knocked down, we get back up,” said Tate referring to the rejected ASF’s project.

“Council will withdraw its proposal (to build the integrated resort on the Southport Bowls Club site) to ensure everyone has an even playing field and we’ll have a look and test the market to see who’s got the best option for the city.

“When you put that together initially, you’re trying to go ‘well this will activate our CBD’. I’d say to everyone now — to give certainty to the bowls club and tennis club — that it’s opened up to the whole of the city and that site is no longer necessary,” he concluded.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring state of New South Wales, the poker industry has rejected a proposed AUS$5 spin limit in video poker machines at Canberra casinos.

Speaking to local news outlets, Ross Ferrar, Chief Executive of Gaming Technologies Association, said that the attempt to create a separate set of rules had been "a source of great frustration". He suggested unless this rule is discarded or the same stake restrictions were introduced citywide poker machines would not be viable.

“It is very difficult for us to understand how it would be possible to provide the Canberra casino with unique games with unique machines at a cost that would be anywhere near capable of sustaining a business case for their purchase," he said.

"Developing a game for a poker machine is a complex and very expensive process."