The precursor to MONA, the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities, was founded in 2001 by Tasmanian millionaire David Walsh. Now Walsh?is working to get a casino open in the Museum of Old and New Art at Berriedale. The plans are to have a boutique casino called Monaco, but the State Government has been reluctant to let the development take place. A deed of agreement in 1993, with follow up 10 years later has made the?possibility?of Monaco Casino currently non-existent. The Federal Group was given a deed of agreement to operate casinos and poker machines in Tasmania at least until 2023.
The deed stops MONA from starting any development until 2023. The government is looking at ways a MONA casino may happen sooner, but there is no decision as of yet. At the moment the government is unwilling to allow the number of poker machines operating in Tasmania increase. The casino, if allowed, would ?contain no slots/pokie machines. It would be a high-roller, tourist only casino that would not compete with the Federal Group’s Wrest Point Casino at all.