John Wagner reveals what’s next for $220m Wellcamp

With the Wagner family set to take back the keys to the mothballed 1000-bed Wellcamp Covid quarantine facility this month, a new plan for what’s next with the taxpayer-funded white elephant can be revealed.

Businessman John Wagner has revealed what’s next for the mothballed $220m taxpayer-funded Wellcamp Covid quarantine facility as the Queensland government’s lease ends.

The state will hand back the keys to the 1000-bed facility to the Wagner Corporation this month after the expiration of a 12-month lease, during which time only about 730 people ever stayed at the facility.

Mr Wagner told The Courier-Mail the company was talking to a number of stakeholders, and exploring using the facility to house agricultural workers now it has full ownership.

“We see this facility as a significant asset for the region,” he said.

“We want to put it to good use to benefit the area, and secure some of these workers – there’s a dire need for it in the region.”

John Wagner with Annastacia Palaszczuk and Steven Miles visiting the Wellcamp quarantine hub in February 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

In the longer-term, Mr Wagner said he hoped the facility would become incorporated into the company’s planned $175m Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct as accommodation.

The motorsport precinct – to which the state government committed $40m to in October 2020 and confirmed its stake in the SEQ City Deal – would include an outdoor 40,000 seat amphitheatre, racetrack and accommodation for 5000 people.

Mr Wagner said he believed the precinct would become a legacy infrastructure project for the region, and could be used for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

At the time of the funding commitment for the entertainment precinct, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said “the Wagners are ready to take Wellcamp to an entirely new level – a vision that the Palaszczuk Government backs”.

John Wagner at the Wellcamp quarantine hub. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Less than a year later, in August 2021, Ms Palaszczuk announced the dedicated quarantine facility would be built at Wellcamp after the state government struck a deal with the Wagners.

Mr Wagner said he was awaiting the federal government to match the $40m funding agreement to proceed with the motorsport project, with the Wagners contributing close to $100m.

The Wellcamp quarantine facility has been the subject to much controversy over its lack of use as well as the cost to taxpayers, with the details of the deal kept secret under commercial in confidence arrangements until Deputy Premier Steven Miles shared details in last year’s senate estimates.

Artist impressions of the Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct.

The Queensland Audit Office is currently conducting a probe into the cost of the project and procurement methodology project, with Auditor-General Brendan Worrall confirming last month it was close to complete and would be released publicly.

Mothballed last July after Covid restrictions were lifted, Dr Miles has said the state government had explored other alternative uses for the $220m facility after the need for quarantine accommodation became defunct.

“Multiple representatives from labour hire companies, non-government organisations, state and local government agencies have toured the facility,” a spokesman for Dr Miles said.

“Wellcamp is a world class quarantine facility, built to keep the Covid virus contained, so the design of the facility and its location means that other uses of the facility are not straightforward.”

Asked whether he had expected the state government to use the facility for other uses while the lease was still in play, Mr Wagner said “no, we weren’t”.