Experts say Crown’s Sydney casino will bring New Southeast government $ 100 million in additional tax revenue

Crown’s Sydney Casino is expected to bring the New Wales government an additional $ 100 million in tax revenue in the first year, which is only a quarter of what its Melbourne center brings to the Victoria Treasury.

Experts say gambling floors in Sydney’s tallest skyscraper cannot provide as much as promised for the state’s economy if its high-roller market is depleted unless a major change to the operating license is allowed.

This week, Crown Resorts received permission to operate its casino from the Independent Alcohol and Gaming Authority NSW (ILGA), the same body that in February 2020 felt that Crown could not have a gaming license after an investigation revealed that it closes the eyes. before money laundering at their casinos in Melbourne and Perth.

However, Crown has moved forward in Sydney, opening in 2020 its building in Sydney Harbor worth $ 2.2 billion with hotel rooms and restaurants, but without casinos.

Sixteen months later, ILGA issued Crown a temporary license to the game, just in time for the company’s official takeover on Friday by U.S. private equity firm Blackstone.

Blackstone has not yet decided on the date of the casino’s opening, but New Wales budget documents predict that the government will receive $ 231 million from the casino next fiscal year, a revenue stream that also includes the Sydney Star Casino.

Monash University gambling researcher Charles Livingston said the Crown would not be as big an increase in the tax coffers as it could be.

“The revenue we can expect Crown Sydney to receive next year will be about $ 500 million, based on the fact that the Treasury has estimated their share of tax revenue.

“That’s about a quarter of what Crown in Melbourne would get in a good year.”

Crown Sydney will not be the international attraction for high rollers that was promised when it was approved by then-Prime Minister Barry O’Farrell in 2013.

In addition to how COVID will destroy international travel, China has issued decrees banning gambling in several jurisdictions, and although the blacklist of destinations is not publicly available, experts strongly suspect that it includes Australia.

Macau casino analyst Ben Lee said Crown now needs to attract other customers from abroad as well as from a country where players are already servicing existing casinos.

He believes that Crown cannot run a successful casino without poker machines – something that its current license prohibits.

“Now, [pokies] banned, but I would bet that for any money they would lobby the government very hard to allow them to have slot machines in Barangura. “

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The opening of the casino is good news for local jobs, however the company predicts it will hire 2,000 people in its restaurants, hotels and gaming halls.

Announcing the license, ILGA chairman Philip Crawford said the “new crown” was a significant improvement on the “old crown”, noting that the company needed to “blow itself up to be saved”.

Several board members and senior executives have resigned following Bergin’s report, and Mr Crawford said the organization has restructured its policies in games from scratch.

Since then, Blackstone has bought three Australian casinos from Crown, and ILGA has confirmed that it has also done significant work on the company.

And billionaire James Packer has left the business, selling his 37 percent stake for $ 3.3 billion.

Announcing the takeover of Blackstone on Friday, Crown Resort CEO Steve McCann said the business “has undergone a huge transformation”.

ILGA insists it will monitor Crown’s activities, and reserves the right not to grant a full license after the expiration of the previous period if it violated any of the terms of the license.

A spokeswoman said Crown had agreed to do the following:

• Does not interact with tour operators
• Assign an independent monitor
• The requirement to conduct rigorous customer screening for both members and guests and to monitor the accounts of patrons for criminal activity
• Conduct due diligence in cash transactions that exceed a certain threshold, including identifying the source of the player’s funds.

New Wales Treasury budget documents show that the state still expects an overall increase in the gambling tax to $ 3.2 billion in 2022-23, mainly due to the tax derived from poker machines, and partly due to the increase in taxes online. -rates.