Queensland’s Wellcamp Covid quarantine hub will be mothballed within days
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Version 0 of 1. Deputy premier Steven Miles tells estimates the total government spend for isolation facility exceeded $200m Queensland taxpayers have forked out more than $200m for the Wellcamp quarantine facility that will be mothballed within days. The state’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, has revealed the total capital and leasing costs for the complex near Toowoomba, which the Wagner Group now owns, will be $198.5m. Another $9m has been spent on catering, cleaning and security services. Miles said the facility will stop accepting guests from Monday but remains available should the state’s pandemic response change. “There is no longer a public health requirement for dedicated, government-provided quarantine and isolation facilities,” he told a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday. “I understand this is consistent with the health advice provided in other jurisdictions.” Miles said other uses for the site will be considered during the lease period, which runs until April. About 730 guests have stayed at Wellcamp since it opened in February. “It supported individuals with isolation accommodation in a range of circumstances, particularly those most vulnerable in the community,” Miles said. “This includes guests who have tested positive to Covid-19 but do not have a suitable place to safely isolate such as homeless persons, refugees and victims of domestic violence.” He said it was easy to forget how uncertain the future was at the beginning of the pandemic and he was proud of the government’s response. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning “Most people understand, faced with what we were faced with, that we couldn’t have made any other choice,” Miles said. The cost of Wellcamp equated to about $325,000 a person who used the facility, the state’s opposition said. “The state government could have bought a one-bedroom unit for each guest,” said the Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli. “This was a trigger-happy decision to try and wedge the former federal government and this waste could have funded nearly 2,500 nurses in the middle of a health crisis.” Until Wednesday the government had consistently declined to outline the full cost of Wellcamp, citing commercial in-confidence arrangements. On Tuesday the acting auditor general, Karen Johnson, said the project was being investigated after an opposition request in April. She said the investigation was looking at the procurement and tender process, and why the government was deeming the deal as “commercial in-confidence”. “Commercial in-confidence is generally very important in the negotiation stage, not so much after the contract has been settled,” Johnson told an estimates hearing. Miles said the state has told the federal government a second quarantine facility they are jointly building at Pinkenba, near Brisbane airport, was no longer required. |