Crown's $30 million land discount "appropriate"

A senior bureaucrat has defended a decision to give Crown Limited a $30 million discount on land at Burswood, saying it was an appropriate amount.

The government sold 5.8 hectares of land to the company earlier this year, to allow for the development of a new hotel.

The James Packer-owned company operates a casino at Burswood.

At the time, the Premier said the Valuer General had put the land value at $95 million but $30 million was slashed to cover the cost of remediating the site.

Today, Peter Conran, from the Department of Premier and Cabinet, told a parliamentary committee that discount also included a government incentive and took into account future revenue streams.

Mr Conran could not say exactly how much of the discount was for remediation and how much was an incentive.

But, he said it was an appropriate amount and a pragmatic decision to grant the discount.

An artist's rendition of what the six star Crown Towers will look like (Supplied: Crown Casino)

Source: ABC News, 26 September 2012