Queensland may face legal bill over ASF casino

Sunday 12th of March 2017

The Queensland government may face a $1.2 billion legal action if ASF Group’s plans to build a multi-billion dollar casino on the Gold Coast are not approved, the Australian reported.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation, through ASF Group, is planning to build a $3bn casino resort with five high-rise towers on land between Sea World and Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast.

The project was to have been built on Wave Break Island, but those plans were nixed after the Palaszcuk Labor government fulfilled election pledges in 2015 to ban the development on environmental grounds.

The newspaper cites Gold Coast town planner Ross Heatley as saying that a senior CSCEC executive have told him about the potential legal action.

“We were in discussions over another matter and she said that when the rug was pulled on Wave Break Island they received legal advice they had an action against the state government for $1.2 billion,” he was cited as saying.

Heatley said there was “non-existent” transparency surrounding the casino project and the public was being offered a “consultation period”, though not provided with any detailed information about what would be built.