Aussie House Rep launches petition against Sunshine Coast casino project

The previous year was a bad one for Australian gambling enthusiasts. Earlier in 2017, the country's updated gambling laws pushed regulated international operators like allslotscasino.com, which have been tacitly accepted by the government to this day, way out of legality. This caused many to close doors for local players and exit the market. Plans to block access to these operators on an ISP level are also in place. Unfortunately, there is no plan to offer them a way to legally enter the market and obtain a license from the local government. Besides, the fate of online poker - a game of skill in most jurisdictions globally - is also at risk, as Sen. David Leyonhjelm seems to have a hard time convincing the government to look deeper into the matter.

Now, Australia's gambling industry is in for another hit, thanks to House Representative Andrew Wallace. The representative has started a petition encouraging residents of Sunshine Coast, Queensland to refuse support for a reported plan to construct a casino resort in the area.

Although many agree that Queensland needs the jobs the new Sunshine Coast project could create, the Liberal National Party (LNP) seems to think otherwise. NagaCorp, the largest hotel, gaming and leisure operator in Cambodia, visited the site of the proposed project in South East Queensland earlier this year. The news of the fierce opposition from LNP hit soon after.

The Maroochydore Central Business District development project involves the construction of a series of buildings - offices, leisure and recreation projects and their likes - on a 50-hectare area. Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson proposed the addition of a casino resort to the project in 2016, arguing it would create more jobs and more potential revenue for the area. But the LNP continues to oppose casino-related projects in the area, actively encouraging the City Council to vote against any such proposals.

This is not the first casino-related project in Queensland to be rejected this year. Earlier, the Asian leisure and gambling group ASF Consortium was on the brink of obtaining a casino license for a project set to be realized on the Gold Coast, but several locations for the resort were rejected because they would have led to the removal of community buildings or parks in the process. Queensland regulations allow for one new casino resort to be established in the area but officials seem to prefer no more gambling opportunities to be created.