Brisbane Covid-19 camp ‘delayed’ but will it be used for quarantine?

The controversial Covid-19 facility at Pinkenba has been further delayed and there are now questions over whether it will ever be used for quarantine.

Construction of a Covid-19 quarantine camp in Brisbane has been further delayed, but whether the facility will ever be activated for pandemic purposes is unclear with the Wellcamp site barely occupied and the version in Darwin set to be shut down.

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 the federal finance department confirmed “inclement weather” had “significant impact” on construction and completion dates.

The former finance minister Simon Birmingham in March revealed the initial 2022 floods had pushed back build progress by six weeks, with keys to be handed over to the state in two stages in late May and then in mid to late June.

Construction on the site at Pinkenba. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The updated completion data has not been disclosed, though it is understood to be “near”.

A spokesman for the finance department confirmed the federal government was working with the state on the staged handover of the facility.

But whether the Brisbane Centre for National Resilience will ever be used for Covid-19 purposes amid significant easing of quarantine rules is unclear, with the state government “engaging” with federal counterparts on future uses of the camp.

The Northern Territory government, operator of Australia’s premier Covid-19 quarantine camp at Howard Springs, announced on Thursday the facility would be shut down by the end of June.

A state development department spokesman confirmed the Wellcamp quarantine facility near Toowoomba had an average of 12 guests a day in June.

The facility is being built on an old Defence Force base at Pinkenba. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Ultimately, the use of the Pinkenba quarantine centre — and similar camps in Perth and Melbourne — after the pandemic will be a matter for the federal government.

The finance department, on its website, stated the centres would be used for “other purposes” when no longer needed for Covid-19 purposes.

“The designs open up possibilities for use in future public health emergencies, humanitarian efforts, or as crisis accommodation for bushfire-affected communities or other vulnerable Australians,” it stated.

Total project cost for all three Centres for National Resilience is estimated to be around $1.37 billion.

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.

The state is locked into a 12-month lease with the Wagners for the Wellcamp facility, which is due to expire in February 2023.

It has been revealed $48.8m was spent on construction of the facility near Toowoomba, with Aspen Medical contracted at a cost of $40m to provide services.