Qld govt gambling on casino tourism boom

Queensland's government is gambling on a new Brisbane casino and resort boosting the economy, but critics warn it is chasing fool's gold.

The government is spruiking the "transformational" Queen's Wharf project, awarded on Tuesday to the Destination Brisbane Consortium - led by Echo Entertainment and including Hong Kong-owned Far East Consortium (Australia) and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

The project, believed to cost $2 billion-plus, includes a casino, five hotels, three residential towers, 50 bars and restaurants, a grand ballroom and a cinema.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says it will be an iconic development that will attract millions of tourists to the city annually.

"The flow-on effects will be felt for decades to come," she said.

Echo Entertainment chief executive officer Matt Bekier also predicted the project heralded an Australian tourism boom.

He said Queen's Wharf would transform the industry.

"This is going to be the next mining boom," Mr Bekier said. "If we look in Asia in terms of the aspiration of where people want to go to, Australia stands out as number one in terms of aspiration and desire to go to.

"But we're about number 14 of the places they actually go to. There's a huge opportunity."

Echo plans to relocate its headquarters to Brisbane to oversee the project, tipped to create about 3000 construction jobs and 8000 continuing jobs when it is built.

However prominent anti-gambling campaigner Senator Nick Xenophon said the construction phase would provide a sugar hit for the economy, but the casino would leave a sour taste.

Queensland's existing four casinos - in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Townsville and Cairns - have failed to spur economic activity and instead encouraged gambling addiction, Senator Xenophon said.

"Having a state development model based on gambling is chasing fool's gold," he told AAP.

"There's no question that this project will lead to more aggressive marketing by other gambling venues trying to compete with it.

"This is a classic case of the public interest losing out to the corporate interest."

The Australian Family Association also questioned the need for the casino, even if it offered discounted dining.

"They will say it creates employment and it has cheap good food, but I see that as a lure for something that's socially negative," national spokeswoman Terri Kelleher told AAP.

Queensland's government has clearly avoided using the c-word when referring to the precinct.

The word was used once in a 400-word news release announcing the project had been awarded on Tuesday.

The casino was not even mentioned in a list of key highlights of the proposal.