By ELEANOR BLACK
ROTORUA - Tucked behind a muffler shop and within a stone's throw of The Warehouse, an empty lot filled with scrap metal, boulders and concrete blocks seems an unlikely site for New Zealand's "biggest attraction."
But the proposed Rotorua Casino's dowdy location is no more at odds with the project than the man behind it - American casino developer Bob Hathaway, a Cherokee from Oklahoma, who knew nothing about casinos until he became chief executive of five Native American operations in Michigan state.
The former Navy Reserve pilot, who served in Operation Desert Storm and has a PhD in horticulture, is credited with turning around the financial future of the Chippewa Indians of Sault Ste Marie.
He wants to do the same for Rotorua's Ngati Whakaue, who will benefit from a 65-35 profit split, but despairs that the "anti-casino Government" will extend the moratorium on new casino licences by three years.
A bill to extend the moratorium, introduced by Internal Affairs Minister Mark Burton, goes before the House today for its second reading. The Government administration select committee considered it for 33 minutes before recommending that it be passed without amendment.
Mr Hathaway cannot understand its stance.
Mention that Maori are four times as likely as non-Maori to succumb to gambling addiction, and he scoffs. Argue that this small country already has enough gaming machines to sink the aircraft carrier on which he served in the Gulf War, and he shrugs his shoulders.
"What we have in mind would be the nicest casino in New Zealand. It is something every New Zealander will be immensely proud of."
Mr Hathaway spent last week travelling the country, blitzing select committee members with statistics and Oklahoma charm.
Now he is moving on to the Maori caucus.
"If someone in our tribe had a drinking problem we sent them to Betty Ford. So it costs $100,000. So what? We were making millions."
His business partner, Ngati Whakaue's financial arm Pukeroa Oruawhata, has broad plans for the cash that may come the tribe's way.
Spokesman Malcolm Short says they want to set up a degree course in gaming at Waiariki Institute of Technology, establish a university in Rotorua and contribute to health-care for whanau.
If approved, the building will be designed by Joel Bergman, the architect responsible for Las Vegas' most extravagantly themed casinos - the pseudo-Roman Caesar's Palace, Egyptian glitzfest Luxor and the newly opened Paris, which has its own Eiffel Tower.
Mr Hathaway firmly believes a Rotorua casino would become a landmark attraction and draw tourists to the country.
"We'll far exceed two million visits a year. I'll write it in blood."
He may sound cocky, but Mr Hathaway has done his research.
He can tell you that tourists spend an average of 1.9 nights in Rotorua, that visiting Japanese spend $374 a day, Americans $352 a day and Australians a comparatively paltry $120.
"Most people come here, see a Maori show - they're on the bus and they're out of here."
He plans an aggressive marketing strategy to captivate foreigners with the region's outdoor recreation opportunities and blackjack tables.
The vacant lot, which may one day feature Bergman's Vegas version of a Maori village, was zoned for a casino five years ago.
American shrugs off casino objections
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