Planners call bluff on Crown tower benefits

Victoria's state planners dismissed key Crown Resorts' claims in a so-called $100 million public benefits package for its Melbourne hotel-and-apartment skyscraper, but even so Planning Minister Richard Wynne sided with the casino giant.

A $10 million retail arcade and a $25 million sky-high viewing platform Crown highlighted in its plans were not public benefits but instead mostly for the benefit of Crown itself, the state's planners advised, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show.