Packer's $60m for arts gets mixed reviews JAMES Packer is celebrating a "win-win" over his proposed Sydney casino with a $60 million thank you gift but critics say it's a cheap corporate promotion. Premier Barry O'Farrell on Monday gave the official go-ahead for the Crown Group's $1.5 billion casino development at Sydney's Barangaroo. The restricted gaming development will include a luxury six-star hotel and VIP-only casino. The development will create jobs and draw international tourists to Sydney, particularly from China, Mr Packer says. "When these people come they will spend money in Sydney and NSW and that will create taxes, that will create jobs, that will create onspend and I think there will be a big economic benefit for everyone," he told Macquarie Radio on Tuesday. I think it's a win-win. The mogul is making a $60 million "philanthropic contribution" to Sydney's art scene to show his gratitude, with western Sydney. But with the commitment spread over 10 years, dissenters say it will be nothing compared to the funds spent to combat problem gambling and money laundering. The money will be split between western Sydney and the city's cultural institutions, including Sydney Theatre Company, which will receive $15 million, and the Art Gallery of NSW, which will get $10 million. Crown Resorts will provide half the funds through its corporate scheme, while the Packer family will contribute the other $30 million. "As a philanthropic contribution, this long-term commitment is comparatively modest, but our hope is that the funding will contribute positively to these cultural institutions," Mr Packer said in a statement. The controversial casino has so far enjoyed bipartisan support with opposition gambling spokesman Steve Whan saying Labor would support the legislation comes before parliament this week. These include a prohibition on pokies, a "fair return," keeping the casino VIP-only and an open and transparent development process. Sydney Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe has also welcomed the project, and the news that Sydney's reputation as a major arts centre will also be enhanced. But Greens MP John Kaye described public consultation on the project as woeful and the arts funding as a "corporate promotion." "Six million dollars a year is a trifle amount of money and will be rapidly consumed in the costs of dealing with yet more problem gambling and money laundering," he told AAP. Federal independent Senator Nick Xenophon has also questioned the claim the casino will be pitched towards Asian high-rollers. "He (James Packer) will need to keep lowering the threshold and you will see more and more Sydneysiders taking money out of the local economy and spending it on James Packer's new casino," he told ABC radio.