Pinkenba quarantine facility to be repurposed as AFP training hub

The federal government has been slammed over a decision to use the Pinkenba quarantine facility for police training rather than crisis accommodation, with a $10m promise by the state government ignored.

The Pinkenba Covid quarantine facility will be handed over to the Australian Federal Police instead of repurposed as temporary accommodation for Queensland’s homeless, it can be revealed.

Australian Finance Minister Senator Katy Gallagher and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Thursday confirmed the site will be used as a dedicated training centre, with the AFP to officially take over the facility later this year.

The federal government will also provide additional funding to the AFP to help modify the site for police training.

The Pinkenba facility will be transformed into a training centre for the AFP. Supplied: Brisbane City Council

It’s a major blow to Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon, who boasted a $10 million commitment to convert the empty 500-bed facility into emergency housing nearly a year ago in June when she took over the portfolio, and housing bodies have slammed the decision.

In the wake of criticism, Premier Steven Miles appeared on Friday to be unfazed over the federal government’s decision to give the Pinkenba site to the AFP, saying it was simply out of his government’s hands.

“At the end of the day, it’s owned by the Australian government and how it gets used as a decision for the Australian Government,” he said.

“We didn’t think this was a good site for a quarantine facility. And for some of the same reasons, it’s not an ideal site for a housing facility.”

Mr Miles in January declared the site a “white elephant,” criticising its poor location.

Despite the broken promise, Miles said he remained eager to work with the federal government on housing solutions.

The state’s peak housing body Q Shelter said it was a “shameful” result of ineffective government decision making.

Q Shelter Executive Director Fiona Caniglia said while the state government and Brisbane City Council had come to the table the federal government wasted valuable time.

“It is disappointing that 18 months have passed with no resolution to how the site could play its part to help people,” she said.

“Even though the site has other strategic purposes we consider it shameful that so much time went by without any way to effectively engage three levels of government and the community services sector in how the site could play a role, even if temporarily.

“Time and money has been spent trying to evaluate how Pinkenba could be used and it has taken 18 months to find out that the federal government has the site earmarked for another purpose.

“Both tiers of (state and local) government had made funding commitments to support how the site could play its part as a temporary facility.”

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon announced in June a move to convert the 500-bed facility into emergency housing. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Ms Caniglia said every dollar needed to count. “This (crisis) requires urgency and effective decision-making. It also requires a more effective relationship between the levels of government to reach milestones earlier.

. Ms Scanlon said she was disappointed over the decision, and that the money would now be diverted to other housing support services.

“We have been trying to work with the federal government since last year, putting money on the table and meeting all their requests, including to provide a proposal for the Pinkenba site,” she said.

“It’s disappointing given the time and work we put in, but ultimately we’ve always said this was a federal government decision. I’ve asked my department to use the $10 million we had offered to help people who need housing support.”

Posting to social media, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner called the decision “demoralising” and a “bitter blow in the fight against homelessness”.

“It’s been 641 days since I first wrote to the federal government urging them to put the idle and empty 500-bed facility to better use,” he said.

“That’s 641 nights that hundreds of people, including women and children, wouldn’t have been forced to sleep rough at sites across Brisbane.

“The Pinkenba Quarantine Facility isn’t perfect, but neither are cars and tents.”

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said Labor’s broken promise was “cruel” and accused the government of not genuinely committing to the project.

“Imagine being someone who’s struggling to keep a roof over their head, and to know that the government never really had their heart in doing something about it in the first place,” he said.

“It just rips the rug out from people who just need a bit of hope at the moment.”

He also criticised Minister Scanlon for not making assessment reports detailing whether the Pinkenba site was suitable as housing publicly available.

“That information was never made public,” he said.

“We had a series of reasons why it couldn’t occur and then a half announcement, pouring money behind why they said it could occur. Now to know that there’s been no follow through and we’ve got 43,000 Queenslanders on a waiting list … I just think that’s cruel.”

Senator Gallagher said the use and management of the Pinkenba facility, formally named the Centre of National Resilience Brisbane, will instead be transferred to the AFP following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

Inside a room at the Pinkenba Quarantine Facility. Source: Brisbane City Council.

“The AFP will take over the Brisbane Centre later this year and will receive funding to support initial planning works to convert the Centre to a police training facility,” she said.

“This decision follows engagement with agencies across the Commonwealth and Queensland governments regarding the future use of the Centre in Pinkenba.”

A string of messy communications emerged when the federal government – who built and own the $400m site- claimed Ms Scanlon’s office had not submitted a formal proposal to take over the facility months later in November.

But Scanlon remained adamant the state had submitted a detailed proposal in August and Queenslanders were assured that the Labor governments were working closely together to repurpose the site to alleviate housing pressures.

Two months later, it was revealed Ms Gallagher's Department of Finance was considering other options at the same time the Queensland government conducted a site visit and began progressing its own plans to convert the facility into emergency shelter.

An alliance formed between the Salvation Army, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, peak housing body Q Shelter and the Queensland Council of Social Service all backed the idea, with the Salvo’s offering to run the facility and Mr Schrinner putting up $1m towards any necessary renovations.

Despite this, the state and federal government were unable to reach an agreement on the site’s use.

Ms Gallagher confirmed the federal government would retain the ability to dictate alternate uses of the site during emergencies.