Opposition Senate Leader Diallo Rabain broke ranks with his party colleagues by refusing to support a bill allowing cruise ships to open their casinos while in port, saying a promised referendum on gambling should have been given priority.“This referendum is definitely something that is still outstanding and hanging like an albatross. It’s the gorilla in the room. It needs to happen. We need to get it done,” he said yesterday.But the Cruise Ship (Casino) Act 2013 received cross partisan support from Senators who agreed it would enhance Bermuda’s competitiveness.“Why try and bring this legislation now when we could wait until we have a referendum and then bring it?” Sen Rabain asked.“Then we would have a totally different tone and we would have had a mandate from the people of this country whether they want gambling to be present on these shores or not.”He reminded the Upper Chamber that the bill had been rejected by every member of the then Opposition, the United Bermuda Party, when the then Progressive Labour Party Government attempted to pass the law in 2009.And he challenged the Government to admit that the UBP’s position may have done damage to the country.“We find ourselves debating virtually the exact same bill that was brought before the House and defeated five years ago,” Senator Rabain said.He said it had been argued in 2009 that cruise ships would end their visits to Hamilton and St George’s if on-board casinos were not allowed to open in port, but the Opposition had argued that the bill was discriminatory and that local businesses would suffer.“When was the last time you’ve seen a cruise ship in Hamilton? When was the last time you’ve seen a cruise ship in St George’s?“We have the same members that spoke vehemently against this bill in another place, that are now forming the government, speaking highly of this same bill.”Sen Rabain asked: “What has changed in five years? That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.“I understand that people can change their minds, people can have different opinions, people can see the light. But we haven’t heard that.”He said: “It was political posturing then and it is political posturing now.”Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy, in an interjection, said that members of the PLP Government had also rejected the 2009 bill.Seven Progressive Labour Party MPs joined the UBP in voting against the bill when then Premier Ewart Brown attempted to push it through the House of Assembly, without notice, in 2009.The bill was defeated 18 votes to 11.“The record will show that every single opposition member at that time voted no,” responded Sen Rabain.Said Senator Fahy: “A lot changes in five years. The economy has tanked, things need to change. Sometimes the best definition of leadership is that people are prepared to change their mind on things.”The bill was intended to “show the cruise ship industry that we mean business”, he added.The bill provides for a licensing regime for cruise ships which want to open their casinos in port.The licence would be valid for one season, but ships carrying less than 2,000 passengers would be exempt from the licence fees.Casino hours would be restricted to 9pm to 5am and locals would not be allowed to participate in gaming on the cruise ships.Government has promised to table legislation on the gaming referendum before the financial year ends early next year.