was passed as law. This process was also mired in allegations of corruption and bribery, especially with regards to Kevin Lyons, who held the balance of power. By a slim 6% majority, the establishment of a casino in Hobart was accepted and the Wrest Point Casino Licence and Development Act of 1968 was passed. On 10 February 1973 Australia’s first legal casino opened with great spectacle. The event featured the largest fireworks display ever seen in the country, and was televised through the Channel 7 network. American entertainer Jerry Lewis was the main guest artist. The initial response to the casino exceeded expectations. More than 2,000 people visited the casino on the first Sunday it opened. The hotel was booked out for the first 3 months. However, the reality of the casino soon set in. While it was initially supposed to be an entertainment and convention centre with a small casino, the casino soon took over the building with many poker machines filling the complex. The restrictions around the casino and the presence of poker machines in the community were gradually lifted, until they were widespread. The expected boon to tourism also disappeared as the vast majority of the significant losses at the machines were Tasmanian residents. Second casino licence In 1979, Federal Group secured a second casino licence in Northern Tasmania. The Country Club Casino and Resort was opened in 1982 and the adjacent Country Club villas were acquired by the company some years later. Architects modelled the style and interior design of Country Club on the stately homes of America’s south. Former Chairman Greg Farrell senior had always admired the simple lines of the US Embassy building in Canberra and believed that the Georgian style would work well in the rural landscape of Launceston. The casino is now surrounded by suburbs and local neighbourhoods. Other gambling assets With the monopoly over the poker machines in the state, and all the data of where the most profitable locations were. They then purchased a chain of bottle shops to attach to these locations. Controversy In a 2017, book entitled "Losing Streak", the Tasmanian author James Boyce argues that the monopoly-licence granted to the Federal Hotels to operate poker machines in Tasmania has been at the expense of the best interests of the Tasmania public. The licence has meant that Federal Hotels have earned around $30 million for the past 30