Victorian Government Claims No Favor Was Given To Crown Casino

Ever since the Victorian government announced a couple of weeks ago that they were allowing Crown to expand their casino floor, they have been accused of showing favoritism. Opponents have argued that the government is too close to Crown.

Finally, after allowing the rumors to swirl for several weeks, the government has answered their critics. They claim that they have a strong working relationship with Crown, but that no favors were given.

"We work closely with Crown but there's no deal in relation to this development," said Tourism Minister Tim Holding, "The government is very pleased that Crown is so confident in the tourism industry of Victoria that it has decided to build Australia's biggest hotel."

It is not as if the government simply approved the expanded gambling. Crown had to make some concessions as well. The company will have to pay a ten percent tax rate increase every year until 2014-2015.

The expanded taxes are something the government called for in order to ensure that all casino operators in Australia would be paying the same tax rate. It will not be until 2015 that Crown will be up at the level of the other casinos.

Crown has not made any increases to their gambling floor in almost ten years. That is according to Crown Melbourne Chief Executive, David Courtney.

May 25, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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