Panel head says only one will be approved out of The Star and Crown casinoes THE head of a panel advising the state on a second casino for Sydney said yesterday his job was to recommend either James Packer's proposed Crown casino or The Star's planned redevelopment - and that both could not succeed. We have got to make a recommendation. What the government said at the stage one release (is that) they were mutually exclusive," David Murray, the former chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank, said. I thought that was in the public domain. Breaking his silence on the developments, Mr Murray said The Star's counter proposal to Mr Packer's Barangaroo casino was based on it receiving an extension of its exclusivity licence, so he could not see how both proposals could succeed. "If you have that one, you can't have the other one," Mr Murray said. The owners of The Star casino, Echo Entertainment, have tried to wedge Mr Packer by announcing a $250 million payment to maintain exclusivity, offering to spend $1.1 billion on a new development as well as providing additional funds for the construction of a bridge to Barangaroo and a light rail line to the inner west. The Star proposal wants to turn Pyrmont, Darling Harbour and Barangaroo into a Singapore-style "resort." Echo chairman John O'Neill has offered to proceed with The Star's plan even if Crown was given Sydney's second casino licence - as long as it was restricted to what is known as "international rebate business." The NSW Business Chamber has said Premier Barry O'Farrell ought to look at embracing both proposals. But Mr Murray's comments suggest that if the Packer casino option is awarded, it would be at the expense of Echo's redevelopment. He said "it's possible" that his report will be before the government for a decision next week, but insisted there is still a lot of work to do. "We're not finished yet, I can't put a time on it," he said. We're not going to take short cuts and speed it up. We've got to be quite confident in the methodology that has been used in the proposals and the way we have assessed it. The Premier has made no secret of the fact he is keen on the Packer Barangaroo casino. Last week, he called a special cabinet meeting - due to take place yesterday - to deal with the casino issue, in the hope it could be resolved before the end of June, but then cancelled it after Echo made its detailed submission and its plans public.