According to Village Roadshow, the proposed AUS220m (£104m, 129m euro, US$206m) theme park would be the largest in the country, creating around 7,000 jobs, and could open to the public as soon as 2010.

A spokesperson said the scale of the project means that the company would look for the government to part-fund the scheme.

According to ABC News, the Victorian Government is supporting the plans in principle, but any plans would need to gain support from Zoos Victoria, the government agency which owns and operates the Werribee Zoo and Melbourne Zoo.

Earlier this year, Village Roadshow acquired the Sydney Attractions Group - whose attractions include Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World and Sydney Tower – in a deal worth AUS$141m (£65.3m, US$127m, 87.5m euro).

Village Roadshow now operates one of the region’s largest portfolio of visitor attractions, which includes two Sea World Resort on the Gold Coast, the Wet’n’Wild Water World near Brisbane, the Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Skywalk.

In March, the company acquired the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park and Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World in Auckland, New Zealand.

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