‘Undesirable dealings’ scuppered attempts to build a ‘legal’ casino in Sydney

Underground gambling jouints flourished for decades in Sydney before its first ‘legal’ casino opened in 1997.

NSW Labor premier Neville Wran in 1986.

Casinos have always attracted the ambitious and the desperate ­hoping to strike it lucky. Casinos are good for business, great for government revenue and a haven for the criminal underworld.

It took a long time for Sydney to get its first legal casino, although many underground venues flourished for decades as police and politicians, often on the take, turned a blind eye. It wasn’t named “Sin City” for nothing.

In 1986, Neville Wran’s government announced a privately run casino would be built at the soon-to-be-developed Darling Harbour by Hooker-Harrah consortium.

But two months later, following Wran’s retirement, a Police Board report uncovered “undesirable dealings” by executives, including Hooker’s George Herscu, and it was scuttled by Barrie Unsworth’s government. (Herscu was accused of paying secret commissions to Builders’ Labourers Federation chief Norm Gallagher.) It led to a damages claim and $38 million was paid as an out-of-court settlement in late 1988.

Unsworth’s cabinet, led by treasurer Ken Booth, acted properly in 1987 when it accepted advice that the probity and integrity of several new tenders for the casino were not only “unacceptable” but “dangerous”.

Barrie Unsworth, Wran’s successor as NSW premier.

In 1988, unsurprisingly, Nick Greiner promised there would be no casinos under a Coalition government. He changed his mind in 1991. In 1992, John Fahey’s government announced it would proceed with one casino. In 1993, it named Darling Harbour as the site.

A consortium including American gaming company Showboat and Leighton Properties was chosen to build and operate the casino in 1994. A temporary casino opened at Darling Harbour in 1995. The Sydney Harbour Casino, now The Star, opened in 1997. But this was also controversial. A consortium including Kerry Packer lost out to Leighton and Showboat. (Packer had earlier sought to be Leighton’s operating partner.)

There were allegations Showboat was linked to the US mafia. Inquiries and court challenges followed, and further allegations surfaced, including about the legality of Leighton’s tender processes.

James Packer is determined to succeed where his father failed. He bought into Echo, which owned The Star, reportedly seeking to take it over. But in 2012, Packer presented Barry O’Farrell’s government with a plan for a second casino at Barangaroo.

The $1.5 billion project won final, conditional, approval in 2016 after several changes to the design and repeated battles with the state and city government. Crown also won a court battle with resident groups last year. It is expected to open in 2021.