Pinkenba quarantine accommodation firms up as potential housing facility

The Premier says there is a “lot of work happening” around using the Pinkenba quarantine facility for temporary housing, and Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has pledged $1m to help make it happen.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says work was underway to determine the right “cohort” of people who could benefit from the Pinkenba quarantine facility being transformed into temporary housing.

While no formal approach has yet been made to the federal government about the ongoing use of the facility, Ms Palaszczuk said there was a “lot of work happening behind the scenes”.

“The Deputy Premier (Steven Miles) and I’ve been having a lot of conversations about this and in fact, we sent our senior officials out to Pinkenba to talk with the federal government,” she said.

“We (have) involved council about what are the potential uses of that site. As you can appreciate it is in an isolated area. It’s not just an easy fix of transport.

“You’d have to have cooking facilities, but you’d also have to look at what is the cohort of people that could go in there.

“So all of those issues are being talked about and we are engaging actively with non government organizations – and I asked for this to happen.”

Kristen, who has been couch surfing for the past year, outside the barbed wire fence around the newly finished Pinkenba quarantine facility. Pic: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

The Premier was flanked by new Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon at an under construction urban precinct at Yeronga, with Ms Scanlon also appeared to back the move saying “I certainly think it’s something that we need to consider,” she said.

She said she had spoken to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner – long a vocal supporter of using the disused facility to help ease the housing crisis – on the phone late Thursday night. “(The call) was to talk through potential solutions that we might be able to work on together,” Ms Scanlon said.

“I’m open to any ideas – let’s work together. That’s what Queenslanders expect because we need to make sure that, particularly vulnerable people, have a roof over their head.”

Deputy Premier Steven Miles, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the new Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon inspect Parkside Yeronga, a new urban renewal precinct on Brisbane’s south side. NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Cr Schrinner on Friday said next month’s council budget would confirm his $1m commitment to the Pinkenba quarantine facility.

“There’s now a million more reasons for the state and federal governments to get on board with opening the Pinkenba facility as emergency accommodation,” he said.

“After positive recent discussion, I am confident the state government will get behind this idea.”

Former Environment Minister Ms Scanlon, who was sworn into her new portfolio on Thursday, said she had spent her first 24 hours in the role engaging with stakeholders including crisis accommodation providers.

She said she had been to Musgrave Park in South Brisbane – which has seen as many as 50 people living in tents due to the ongoing housing crisis – to meet with organisations helping those individuals.

“I know the Department of Housing has been working really hard to find safe places for people to call home,” she said.

“We have a whole range of supports available, it’s not always just social housing … there’s a whole range of other support services so that people can get access to a safe roof over their head as soon as possible.”