Big stakes at risk in bids for British casino

26.01.2007, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Big stakes at risk in bids for British casino»

Tony Blair's government faces allegations of conspiracy as it elects the site of a super- casino and who will run it.

Viva Las Vegas. Or even Viva Las Blackpool. As lyrics, they may not be as catchy or as grammatical as Elvis originals, but Britons are certainly excited about their first Las Vegas-style casino. Eight consortiums representing eight locations across Britain are jostling for the rights to operate its first super-casino. They will learn their fate on Tuesday, when the government receives a recommendation from an advisory group on where the super- casino should be located.

The lead-up has brought allegations of political conflicts of interest, manoeuvring by companies eyeing Britain's liberalised gaming landscape, and howls of protest by campaigners over the risks of gambling to society. It's a scenario that may sound familiar to Australians. The British Government's flutter with gambling revenue comes nearly 10 years after Victoria's Kennett government announced that a Crown consortium, led by Lloyd Williams, would run Melbourne's casino at Southbank.

For one Australian family the similarities are more than intellectual. The Packers, through Publishing and Broadcasting, which bought Crown Casino in 1999, are bidding for the super-casino licence. If successful, PBL's Britain-based joint-venture company, Aspers, will run the super-casino in Cardiff, adding to its smaller complexes in Newcastle, London and Swansea. Aspers' co-owner is Damian Aspinall who, like James Packer, is a second-generation gaming magnate; his father, John, was a British gambling legend and friend of the late Kerry Packer. Damian Aspinall made his millions in property before joining the family business.

Cardiff is considered unlikely to win, but Aspers has also applied for 12 of the 16 other new licences for smaller venues, lending heat to the Packers' aspiration to push PBL's international gaming interests beyond Macau. The frontrunners for the super-casino are the Millennium Dome in east London and Blackpool, on England's northwest coast. Other contenders include Glasgow, Newcastle and Sheffield.

There is political pressure for the Dome to succeed. Also called the white elephant, the Dome was the government's biggest embarrassment before Iraq, and has stood virtually empty since 1999, despite costing nearly (PndStlg)1 billion to build. It is now owned by Texas billionaire Phillip Anschutz's company, Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Last week AEG got a double dose of spotlight on the quality of its investments by hiring David Beckham for its Major League Soccer team, Los Angeles Galaxy. But Mr Anschutz's bid for the super-casino has attracted scrutiny, after claims of government conflicts of interest.

In October, it emerged that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had visited the Texan at his ranch and accepted a cowboy outfit, without declaring either. (The news created amusement and outrage; some questioned the aesthetic merits of the rotund Mr Prescott, who admitted an affair with his secretary last year, dressed as a cowboy.)

Then last week, The Sunday Times revealed the questionable link between AEG and Lord Gould, a close adviser of Prime Minister Tony Blair and co-architect of the New Labour movement: Lord Gould is a non-executive director of a public relations firm AEG employs.

The government has resisted pressure from the Conservative Party for a parliamentary inquiry, and Lord Gould said: "I have never at any time had any dealings, of any kind, with the Anschutz Entertainment Group; nor have I had any dealings of any sort with any aspect of gambling legislation or casino licensing."

This must all be a concern for the other bidders. A spokeswoman for Aspers, Andrea Benn, said: "There is no war, it's a case that there have been rumours about (Mr Prescott). Damian is very focused on his bid." But, she says, a fair process is vital. Gambling and politics are a sticky combination. Similar questions were raised about the friendship between former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, Lloyd Williams and Crown's then chairman Ron Walker, during Crown's tender for Melbourne's casino.

Britain's shadow minister for gaming, licensing and tourism, Anne Milton, said: "It's extremely important that decision-making processes are not only beyond reproach, but seen to be beyond reproach. We await the decision, and we need to be satisfied that there is no suggestion of anyone gaining any favours. It's unfortunate that already there have been suggestions of possible conflicts of interest."

When the post-award analysis is complete, Mr Blair's inner sanctum may discover, just as Mr Kennett did, that in the minds of industry leaders and voters, conflicts of interest can render a government a write-off. And, as Mr Kennett did, it may have to watch billions of pounds of hard-fought gambling revenue go straight to an opposition government. The Age

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