The final planning approval for James Packer's Crown Sydney was a bit of a yawn except for one little detail: It is expected to open its doors in early 2021.
That would have drained the smile from Packer's face.
More than four years ago, Packer was planning to take over the John O'Neill-chaired Star Entertainment Group to jump start its entry into the Sydney market.
By effectively buying The Star's licence, he would not have had to wait until its exclusive Sydney casino licence expired in November 2019 before operating a casino at Barangaroo.
That ship has well and truly sailed.
Crown's planning delays have effectively given The Star an extra 18 months of exclusivity before competition arrives on its doorstep. And that assumes the six-star resort is finished on time.
Given the previous animosity between Packer and O'Neill's Star it makes you wonder if Mr Mariah Carey will pick up a trowel to ensure he dims The Star's light as quickly as possible.
"We will now move quickly to begin excavation work," said Crown chairman Rob Rankin after the NSW Planning Assessment Commission approved the concept plans for Barangaroo subject to "substantial modifications".
CBD can't wait to hear if O'Neill has words of support for Crown's efforts following Packer's pragmatic statement about Star's Sydney expansion plans earlier this year.
"What's good for Sydney is good for Australia and what's good for Australia is good for Crown," said Packer in January.
Triple Brexit points
In case you hadn't noticed, Alan Joyce's Qantas has not been soaring like an eagle on the stockmarket recently.
In fact, the flying roo has taken a bit of a nosedive since April, it has lost more than one-third of its value in two months, thanks to a weaker domestic market, a rising oil price and increased competition on key routes.
So it is a good thing that Joyce has found a silver lining in the whole Brexit fiasco thanks to the plummeting pound.
Qantas Frequent Flyer is offering triple points to anyone who books a fight to London over the next week.
But it is definitely for the backpacker market, not the platinum members – unless these Qantas lounge dwellers plan on slumming it in economy class which is where the points accrue.
We can only assume it means Qantas is having no trouble filling the business and first-class seats at the moment despite the trials and tribulations of a marathon federal election.
Mcfleece
When your company is worth zip there is nothing left to fight over besides the recriminations over how it all went so wrong. Right?
But Mark Rowsthorn's logistics disaster McAleese has always done things a little differently.
It looks like a few investors – some of whom coughed up $166 million in its November 2013 IPO – are not happy that the proposed restructure will leave them with "slightly greater than zero per cent" of the recapitalised group.
On Monday, the McAleese board informed the ASX of the insurrection within its ranks.
It told the ASX that one of its board members, Gilberto Maggiolo, informed his fellow directors that he did not approve of this restructure and has joined another substantial shareholder, Havenfresh, to oust the rest of the board.
This includes Rowsthorn, who is the chief executive.
It might be of relevance that Havenfresh, former McAleese director Antonio Bosso, and the private company which owns Maggiolo's shares have now banded together as "associates" with a combined 14 per cent stake in McAleese.
But the insurrection has suffered a hiccup or two already.
Roughly eight hours after Havenfresh requisitioned the meeting to take control of McAleese, the company came back with another announcement stating that two of the three directors nominated by its rebel shareholders – including former CEO Paul Garaty – "withdrew their consent to act as directors."
"The board is considering its obligations with respect to the second notice and will provide an update in due course," said McAleese.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
