Dallas Dempster
| Dallas Dempster | |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 August 1941 Nedlands, Western Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Hale School |
| Spouse(s) | Christine |
| Children | Dallas, Damien, Nina |
Dallas Reginald Dempster (born 27 August 1941) is an Australian businessman notable for original development of Perth's Burswood Resort and Casino (now Crown Perth) and the proposed Kwinana Petrochemical Plant, both of which were among the Western Australian government transactions examined by the 1990–92 WA Inc Royal Commission. In November 2013 The West Australian newspaper named Dempster as one of Western Australia's 100 most influential business leaders (1829–2013).
He was born in Nedlands, Western Australia in 1941 to Dallas Athol Dick and Eileen Olga Dempster. He was educated at Hale School.
In collaboration with WA ecologist and wetlands expert Tom Riggert, Dempster developed Floreat Waters Estate at Herdsman Lake, creating permanent lakes by dropping swamp levels below surrounding land, for which he received the Duke of Edinburgh Environment Award.
Dempster was a principal in the establishment and early development of Western Australia's only casino, Burswood Resort and Casino (now named Crown Perth), in partnership with Genting Berhad of Malaysia which had previous experience in casino development and associated tourism.
The original resort complex included a five-star hotel, casino, recreation facilities with 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, and swimming pools on a site fronting Perth's Swan River, 3 km from the city centre. The casino, the third largest in the world, opened for business in December 1985, with other facilities progressively launched over the following two years. The adjacent Burswood Park was planned to enhance the approach to Perth from the airport. Burswood Casino and Resort committed to providing the revenue to maintain and improve the park indefinitely.
Rival bidders accused Dempster of improper dealings with state premier Brian Burke prior to the awarding of the licence, but after a thorough investigation of these accusations, the WA Inc Royal Commission stated that there was no evidence of impropriety. However it noted that following the awarding of the licence, Mr Dempster, a Liberal Party member, had begun making large donations to the ruling Labor Party cause.
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