Wellcamp quarantine facility cost $200m for just 65 days of use

It cost almost $200 million but just 65 days after it opened, the new changes to quarantine rules has effectively rendered the Palaszczuk government’s Wellcamp facility useless.

It cost almost $200 million but just 65 days after it opened, the Palaszczuk government’s Wellcamp facility has been effectively rendered useless with quarantine scrapped for unvaccinated travellers and close contacts.

Acting Premier Steven Miles said a board would now look at how to “best utilise” the Toowoomba centre.

It’s not known exactly how much the project has cost overall however the government has not disputed reports of it costing $190 million.

It has confirmed $48.8 million was spent on capital costs and insisted it was good value for taxpayers.

Asked on Friday whether it was a white elephant, Mr Miles said, “You can make that assessment.”

The Wellcamp quarantine facility.

The project was controversial from the start with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk making a surprise announcement in August last year that the state government would build the facility itself after repeated requests for federal funding were rejected.

There are currently 87 people staying at the facility.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie took aim at the government, saying that “according to their ‘Labornomics’ a good deal means Queenslanders paying hundreds of millions of dollars for a facility that has barely been used.”

“How can the Palaszczuk Labor Government possibly say this is good deal and not a white elephant?” he said.

After Queensland removed the need for international arrivals to quarantine in January, the government said Wellcamp would be used by unvaccinated international arrivals, seasonal workers whose vaccinations don’t meet TGA requirements and close contacts who are unable to quarantine at home.

From 6pm next Thursday, unvaccinated international arrivals and close contacts will no longer need to quarantine.

Mr Miles said the governance board “will now assess how this change in policy settings affects the mix of accommodation needs.”

“Most of the recent usage has been for those who test positive – aren’t sick enough to require hospital care, but do require appropriate accommodation, so for example, homeless people, people who test positive before departing the country after their accommodation here is no longer available,” he said.

“So there’ll still be some ongoing need there.

“The governance board can consider what other need there might be and how best to utilise that facility.”

On several occasions Mr Miles pointed to the Commonwealth’s Pinkenba quarantine facility in Brisbane which he said would be available from June.

“It (new health policy) clearly changes the need for Wellcamp, it clearly changes the need for the Pinkenba facility that the Morrison government is building,” he said.

Pressed on Wellcamp being leased to the state government, as opposed to Pinkenba being a permanent facility, Mr Miles said it would continue in “various uses” beyond the initial 12 month lease.