Australia: Echo plans to spend us$ 1.5 billion in Queensland

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has said he wants a new casino built in Brisbane to help draw in high rollers from Asia and revitalise the state's struggling tourism industry. The Queensland government has also said it could issue other new casino licences elsewhere in the state, possibly taking the total number of venues from four to seven.

Echo is expected to face competition for the right to build a new Brisbane casino from James Packer's Crown Resorts, setting the scene for a rematch of their bruising battle in Sydney.

Crown's proposal for a resort and VIP casino at Barangaroo has been favoured by the NSW government, at the expense of Echo's plans to expand The Star.
Echo chief executive John Redmond said the Queensland government's desire for a new Brisbane casino - which will form part of a proposed tourism district - presented the company with an exciting opportunity. "We are extremely excited about the opportunity before us in Brisbane and see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity and a very substantial opportunity for the shareholders of Echo Entertainment Group," Redmond told the company's annual general meeting in Sydney.

Chairman John O'Neil said Echo's existing presence in Queensland - where it owns three of the state's four casinos - gave it an advantage over competitors like Crown.