Asian-led groups win Australian casino bids

A Hong Kong billionaire and a Chinese-Australian investment consortium have won bids to build multibillion-dollar mega-casinos in the Australian state of Queensland after other contenders were ruled out by the state government.

Tony Fung Wing-cheung's A$8.15 billion (HK$58.5 billion) Aquis project near Cairns and ASF Consortium's A$7.5 billion Broadwater Marine Project on the Gold Coast would receive gaming licences if environmental, planning and gambling approvals were obtained, Queensland's Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said yesterday.

"The Queensland government has identified that these projects have the greatest capacity to deliver the requirements for an integrated resort development in the regions, particularly the potential to attract inter-state and international tourists as both these centres have international airports," Seeney said.

He added that four other proposals, which included a bid supported by Australian golfing great Greg Norman, needed a "considerable amount of work" before they could meet the criteria outlined by the government.

Fung said last year his Aquis project, a six-star integrated resort, would be a "man-made wonder of the world".

Plans for the Yorkeys Knob project, 13km north of the Great Barrier Reef gateway city of Cairns, include the construction of a casino, nine luxury hotels with 3,750 rooms, and one of the world's largest aquariums.