Tasmania's Farrell family moves up in Australia's rich list
The Tasmanian family behind casinos and high-end hotels in the state has moved up one place on a list of rich Australian families.
PHOTO: Federal Group owns Tasmania's two casinos and has a monopoly on gaming licences. (ABC News)
Business Review Weekly (BRW) put the Farrell family at number 29 on its family rich list and assessed their wealth at $463 million, up from $415 million last year.
Operating as the Federal Group, the family owns two Tasmanian casinos and has a monopoly on gaming licences in the state.
Federal Group also owns the Henry Jones hotel on Hobart's waterfront and luxury resort Saffire on the state's east coast.
"They've got a pretty diverse range of interests," BRW rich list editor John Stensholt said.
"A lot of it's in Tasmania but they've also got a lot of investments around Australia like transport companies and an Arabian horse outfit in New South Wales."
In 2011 the family appeared on the rich list with a fortune of $248 million.
The company has held the gaming licence monopoly since 1993.
The arrangement is due for renegotiation in 2018 ahead of its expiry in 2023.
A spokesman for the Federal Group has previously said if the deal was not extended, about $100 million worth of investment in a new hotel at Port Arthur and the refurbishment of the Launceston Country Club and Wrest Point Casino would be in doubt.
"Having a monopoly on gaming licences is a very big part of their wealth," Mr Stensholt said.
"The gaming industry certainly just keeps going and going and having an entrenched monopoly position, no doubt they'll be very keen to protect that and you can see that's what they're trying to do now in wanting an extension of that monopoly because it's a very lucrative industry."
Source: ABC News, 7th October 2015
Originally published as: Tasmania's Farrell family moves up in Australia's rich list
