PREMIER Barry O'Farrell is backing James Packer's plans for a $1 billion casino at Barangaroo, saying it will bring jobs and tourists to Sydney.
•Packer plans for a $1 billion casino at Barangaroo
•NSW Premier backs proposal; needs planning approval
•Sydney is limited to one casino until 2019
The billionaire's casino group Crown wants to build a 350-room hotel, world class spa, casino and entertainment complex at Central Barangaroo, between the Headland Park and the commercial hub of Barangaroo South.
"I think it's an exciting proposal which could add extra life to Barangaroo, give Sydney another world-class hotel, generate jobs and boost tourism," Mr O'Farrell said yesterday.
The site is drafted for recreational and cultural facilities such as theatres. Under current planning legislation a hotel that size could not be built there. And because of exclusivity agreements, Sydney is limited to one casino until 2019.
Tourism groups called on Sydney to stop being "knockers and blockers" and to back the plan.
Developers Lend Lease, which has the rights to build the hotel, said a location for the hotel had not even been decided.
"Lend Lease's focus is on working closely with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority on assessing a new hotel location as requested by the Premier to ensure Barangaroo will produce a world class outcome for Sydney," Lend Lease's Group head of development David Hutton said.
Mr O'Farrell said the new casino would need to pass a range of regulatory approvals.
"As you'd expect from someone involved with the sector, just about every time I see Mr Packer he expresses interest in running a casino in Sydney and offers other suggestions on boosting tourism," he said.
Tourism Transport Forum CEO John Lee said a signature hotel to be on the front page of luxury travel magazines was exactly what Sydney needed to get its mojo back.
"For too long we have rested on our laurels, this bold audacious plan is worth backing all the way," he said.
Mr Lee said yesterday a Singapore equivalent proposed at the same time as Barangaroo had been open for two years, increased gross domestic product by 12 per cent and driven up tourism by a third.
"In Sydney, we have just got the digging machines out.
"We are sick of this can't do attitude, let's encourage people to freshen up the city, and make it better so it can be the global city it deserves to be."
Opposition leader John Robertson accused the Premier of being "slow" to support the Barangaroo development, but he would be interested to hear more about Mr Packer's proposal.
A spokesman for The Star said Sydney's only casino had already invested $1 billion in tourism, by redeveloping the premises.
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