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Palmer bars OAPs
Titanic II: plans unveiled
Revealing drawings for the 40,000-gt Titanic II in Brisbane on Tuesday, the mining magnate said he wanted to ensure that gamblers could afford the risk.
The casino will be reserved mainly for first-class ticket-holders, with third-class passengers “screened” before being allowed in.
"We'll be in international waters, so we can probably stop pensioners from coming without breaching any legislation," he said.
"There will be some sort of screening to make sure the people who do go there are people who can afford to go there.
"I think third class we'd have to have questions about, wouldn't we?
"If you can afford a first-class ticket at the prices that I'll be charging, you can probably afford to go to the casino.
"We'll only locate the casino in first class probably, so we should be able to segregate."
He added: "I love pensioners. My closest relations are pensioners."
"I was just trying to say that we need to protect and respect people who have given a lot service to this country and make sure that we don't act positively to impoverish them later – that's all it boils down to.
"We have to have some social responsibility too."
Palmer reassured punters Titanic II would include "proper life boats", safety chutes and slides on an extra "safety deck" to make it compliant with today's regulations.
The drawings depict nine decks complete with first, second and third class, officer and crew accommodation.
From deck D upwards, engineers Deltamarin have managed to keep the public rooms, passenger stairs, cabins and features in similar locations as in the original ship.
The first voyage from England to New York is set for late 2016. China’s CSC Jinling Shipyard has won the newbuilding contract.
As for the cost of building it, he said: “The sky's the limit, I think. All the money I've got is the budget, so I should have enough."