The Christmas Island Resort, often called the Christmas Island Casino, was a holiday

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n territory in the north-eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

about south of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and north-west of the Australian mainland. The resort, including an integrated

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

, opened in late 1993. The casino was generally profitable, with gross profits from casino operations peaking at $153.7 million in 1994-95. Overall, however, the casino and resort struggled financially and, after being badly affected by the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, it was closed on 23 April 1998. The closure of the resort and casino in 1998 had a devastating impact on Christmas Island's economy. Approximately 200-250 employees left the island after its closure, and between 1998 and 2001, the population of Christmas Island was estimated to have halved from approximately 2600 to 1300 people.

History

The casino/resort was conceived in the early 1980s by

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

Frank Woodmore as a business opportunity following the closure in 1981, for political and religious reasons, of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

's three licensed casinos, all of which were in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. With Jakarta less than an hour's flight from Christmas Island, the casino was intended to attract

high roller A high roller, also referred to as a whale or cheetah, is a gambler who consistently wagers large amounts of money. High rollers often receive lavish " comps" from casinos to entice them onto the gambling floors, such as free private jet transfe ...

s from Indonesia and other Asian countries. In 1985 a company, Christmas Island Resort Pty Ltd (CIR) was incorporated, with Woodmore, through Mercator Property Consultants Pty Ltd, initially holding 10% of the share capital, with other interests, principally controlled by Indonesian businessman Robby Sumampow, acquiring the remainder. Construction of the resort began late in the 1980s. On 5 November 1993 CIR was granted an Australian casino licence, with the building complex formally opened as the Christmas Island Casino and Resort on 18 December 1993. As envisaged, the casino catered mainly to a wealthy Asian clientele, with most of its patrons flying in from Jakarta, often by

private jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more personal ...

. Business was facilitated by the Australian government, which issued special short-term visas for Christmas Island. Initially, in the financial year ended 30 June 1994, the casino and resort operated profitably, with the majority of revenue coming from the casino. However, other than in financial year 1994, CIR made losses in every year that it was open. The resort was badly affected by the

1997 Asian Financial Crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, and it suspended operations on 23 April 1998. On 28 July 1998 the Australian Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government cancelled CIR's casino licence and, the following day, the company went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver – a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights" – especia ...

. In 2000, the resort was purchased from the liquidators by David Kwon, a

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

-based businessman. In 2002, allegations were raised in the investigative journalism programme ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'' relating to money laundering having occurred at the Christmas Island Casino during its years of operation. Also in 2002, the Australian government leased one of the resort's kitchens to provide meals for

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

detained on Christmas Island. In July 2004, a proposal by KFL Star Resort (a consortium of South Korean investors registered in Perth) to reopen the casino, was rejected by the Australian Government, with the

Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories is a position within the Australian federal government. The outer ministry position of Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads was created in the Third Howard Min ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Ian Campbell, quoted as saying that in the "interests of the Christmas Island community, the Australian Government has decided to make legislative changes to prohibit casino operations". In July 2009, it was reported that the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

was negotiating with Kwon about using the resort facilities to relieve overcrowding at the island's Immigration Detention Centre because of increases in boatloads of asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia. In response, the island's Shire President, Gordon Thomson, said that the Australian government should take control of the then

mothball Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from silverfish, Mold (fungus), mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like ''Tineola bissell ...

ed resort and hand it over to the Christmas Island community to operate as a tourist resort. From time to time, the resort has been used as accommodation for Australian government staff and contractors working at the Christmas Island detention centre. Despite support from Australian federal parliamentary reports for a casino licence being reissued, successive governments have declined to do so, most recently in 2021. 6th May 2025 the Australian government put out an approach to market This Approach to Market (ATM) is for the provision of: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and Arts (the department) requires the services of a suitable property management agency with the qualifications skillset to inspect the Christmas Island Resort site, and list the site for leasing. As approved by the department, the Contractor will need to undertake: undertake an inspection of the site; develop appropriate promotional materials and actively promote the site; run an Expression of Interest (EOI); detail findings to the department; communicate with the identified proponents to submit the required documents; and assist the department in the negotiation and assessment of the proponent.Approach to market https://www.tenders.gov.au/Atm/ShowClosed/9b3ccb77-89f7-4df3-96ce-abade9b02b93?PreviewMode=False
/ref>

Description

The resort lies on a 47 ha block of land, a 99-year

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

issued in 1989, at Waterfall Bay on the north-eastern coastal terraces of the island, not far from the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. It contains 156 guest rooms and suites as well as other resort facilities such as restaurants, nightclubs and a swimming pool. When it operated as a casino the facilities included 43

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

s and 23

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

tables. CIR also owned the Christmas Island Lodge, containing 80 motel-style rooms, in Poon Saan as well as 144

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

s for staff accommodation.

Notes

External links

Four Corners: The Christmas PartyWill Christmas Island get its casino back?Judgment of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in the matter of Casinos Austria International (Christmas Island) Pty Ltd v Christmas Island Resort Pty Ltd [1998
WASC 387] {{coord, 10, 27, 26, S, 105, 42, 18, E, display=title Organisations based in Christmas Island Casinos completed in 1993 1993 establishments in Australia Defunct casino hotels in Australia