The stench of fresh manure permeates the Gold Coast hinterland and the whiff of some first-rate animal husbandry is on the air as Hong Kong billionaire and honorary Queenslander, Tony Fung continues to transform Patinack Farm – the horse stud he picked up for $15 million from Nathan Tinkler last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Since taking the keys, and taking possession of a whole lot of stock that Tinkler had amassed during his stint as lord of the manor, Fung has undertaken what we hear is a wholesale clean-out of the stables. Word is that a good number of the GGs that Tinkler had purchased were only good for the knackery.
Fung – whose vision to develop a casino up near Cairns at the wonderfully monikered Yorkeys Knob has been put on hold for lack of regulatory approval – has grand plans to turn Patinack Farm into one of the premier horse studs in the land, and to that end, is planning to splash no small amount of cash at this year's Gerry Harvey-sponsored equine firesale, the Magic Millions.
Meanwhile, he continues to play a waiting game in Surfers Paradise, keen to nab the second casino licence up for grabs there. As he waits for the government to make up its mind, he's busy buying up vast tracts of Surfers Paradise with a view to developing them – including the site of that Surfers cultural highpoint, the Vomitron.
Further south, he's about to plough $330 million into the (long overdue) redevelopment of the glorified RSL otherwise known as the Canberra Casino (including the contentious addition of some 200 poker machines) which he also owns through his company, Aquis Entertainment. Busy man.
