Hong Kong financier Tony Fung’s Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort has cleared an important hurdle following approval from Queensland planners of its environmental design.
Concerns about the potential for harm to the delicate ecosystem of the north Queensland coast have dogged the A$8 billion project from the start, but the Queensland Coordinator-General has concluded that the massive complex—whose plans call for eight hotels, a casino, a sports stadium, a golf course and an expansive water park and lagoon—poses no unacceptable risk to the Great Barrier Reef, one of Australia’s main tourist destinations.
Mr Fung, who is trying to assemble funding for Aquis, put the project on hold after the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation failed to meet a late November deadline for approving his purchase of the Reef Hotel Casino in nearby Cairns. His Aquis Group wanted to close on the purchase by the end of the year with a view to listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2016. The delay also leaves the venture without a gaming revenue stream to leverage to attract investors.
The OLGR hadn’t indicated at the time when the A$214 million sale would be approved, according to news reports, but Aquis said it was working with the agency “to progress its probity enquiries” with a view to completing them as soon as possible.
The majority shareholders of Reef’s ownership group—Casinos Austria and French hotel giant Accor—have signed off on the sale, together with a discounted $6 million sale to Aquis of their smaller Casino Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. The Canberra deal has been OK’d by ACT Racing and Gaming Minister Joy Burch and is proceeding, according to news reports. Aquis said it plans to refurbish and expand both properties.
The government of Queensland approved Aquis Great Barrier Reef last year pending the environmental review and the receipt of regulatory and other approvals. It is one of three new super-resorts with casinos the state has authorized—the others are in Gold Coast and Brisbane—in hopes of boosting its ailing economy through tourism and tourism investment.
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