Construction of Pinkenba quarantine facility delayed by six weeks

The first stage of the 500-bed Pinkenba quarantine facility won’t be handed over to the Queensland government until at least May after construction was delayed by the floods.

Construction of the federal government’s Covid-19 camp in Brisbane has been delayed by six weeks due to the floods, with the keys now set to be handed over to the state in May.

The initial stage of the 500-bed facility in Pinkenba, being paid for by the federal government, was due to be handed over to the state government at the end of March.

But finance minister Simon Birmingham, in a letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday, advised the severe rain in February had “significantly impacted the site” in Pinkenba.

“Due to these wet conditions, the construction companies have lost approximately 20 per cent of work days on site. Works are now underway to remediate the site and construction has recommenced to deliver the CNRB as soon as possible,” he said.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham. Picture: Gary Ramage

“Progress on site has also recently been impacted by statewide disaster recovery efforts outside the site, including through public road closures and more limited availability of heavy vehicles and machinery in the market.”

The letter, seen by the Courier-Mail, also revealed the facility — similar to the process for the quarantine camp in Melbourne — was due to be handed over to the state government in three parts.

This was to give the state the “earliest opportunity for Queensland and its operator(s) to enter the site and begin staff mobilisation, training and commissioning of the facilities”.

But the state government had floated the preferred option of claiming the keys in two stages, to which the Commonwealth agreed.

The site of the Pinkenba quarantine facility.

The handover dates are now slated for mid to late May 2022 and mid to late June 2022.

“Our construction partners continue to work around the clock to ensure that the build is of the highest quality and is completed as soon as possible,” Senator Birmingham said.

The Pinkenba facility — officially the Centre for National Resilience Brisbane — is expected to cost between $350m and $400m to build.

Unlike the state government’s facility in Wellcamp, the Pinkenba camp has been built on government-owned land and will be an ongoing piece of public infrastructure.

It was previously revealed taxpayers forked out $48.8m on capital costs for Wellcamp facility, though it is understood to be just a fraction of the cost for the entire project and doesn’t include the cost of the 12-month lease to Wagner Corporation.