Casino on Christmas Is to re-open?
Christmas Island’s hotel and casino could be re-opened after a report by the joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories has recommended it be reopened after it was closed in 1998.
The remote Indian Ocean island’s predominant overseas visitors are asylum seekers.
The casino/hotel was closed after the Indonesian president Suharto refused to give flight permits to the island from any Indonesian airport. Before its closure, the casino had a turnover of $5.8 billion.
Plans for an 80-bed dive resort have been proposed to further boost the island’s tourism attractions.
The report argues that “work to facilitate the reopening of the casino on Christmas Island is long overdue and should commence immediately. What is required is the political will to make this happen”.
The administrator of the island, Barry Haase, said the minister for infrastructure, Jamie Briggs, had been given the “quiet” approval from prime minister Tony Abbott to go forth with government consultations on the casino plan.
Plans for the dive centre have been approved by the federal government, but rejected by the local government, Mr Haase said.
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