Tower says Lauga 'deserted' CQ by not voting for a casino

UPDATE: TOWER Holdings has responded to Brittany Lauga's choice to vote against the LNP motion last night.

UPDATE: TOWER Holdings has responded to Brittany Lauga's choice to vote against the LNP motion last night, saying she has 'deserted' Central Queensland.

The LNP presented a motion to the Labor government to adopt the party's policy and develop an offshore boutique casino gaming licence policy to encourage investment in job-creating developments such as that proposed for Great Keppel Island.

Tower Holdings chairman Terry Agnew says the Keppel MP has 'deserted' Central Queensland and claims she was the "single vote" that stopped the development, after the motion was voted against at 43-41.

Mr Agnew also said he was "disappointed" by the comments made in parliament by Ms Lauga after he had invested $50 million into the project already.

"The Member for Keppel, Brittany Lauga used the Great Keppel Island (GKI) project and her support for a boutique gaming license as a platform for her election campaign in early 2015," he said.

"Over the last 12 months the Member for Keppel has pretended to us and the community that she is supportive of GKI and a boutique gaming license (BGL).

"However, the reality is that these are all 'hollow words' by someone who is happy to put her political ambitions above what is good for her very own community."

Mr Agnew did not address the issues raised by Ms Lauga.
 

EARLIER: BRITTANY Lauga says Tower Holdings is relying on the wallets of Central Queenslanders to make its casino viable, which would mean around $60 million in revenue a year.

In Tower's 2014 investment prospectus, VIP gaming revenue was projected to account for only around 31%, or $26.7 million, of total revenue in the casino's second year.

"According to Mr Agnew, Tower's cash flow projections are based on 70% of casino revenue from the local market; essentially lining investors' pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars and bleeding local Central Queenslanders dry," Ms Lauga told State Parliament last night.

During Parliament last night, Ms Lauga voted against the LNP's motion to adopt the party's policy and develop an offshore boutique casino gaming licence policy to encourage investment in job-creating developments such as that proposed for Great Keppel Island.

The motion was defeated 43-41.

Ms Lauga instead implored Tower Holdings to go ahead with a scaled back version of Stage One, and apply to the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to assist in the provision of infrastructure.

"Tower said that if they didn't get a casino licence, they would start work on a scaled back version of Stage One of their planned development," Ms Lauga said.

"I argue that they need to start that now."
 

Originally published as Tower says Lauga 'deserted' CQ by not voting for a casino