Premier Steven Miles slammed over lack of regret about $223m Wellcamp fiasco

The Opposition has labelled Premier Steven Miles as the ‘architect’ of the $223m Wellcamp quarantine white elephant and slammed his lack of regret over the controversial decision.

Premier Steven Miles doesn’t regret the state government spending $223m to build a 1000-bed quarantine facility in Toowoomba only to relinquish it to private industry.

It has been one year since the state handed back the keys of the Wellcamp quarantine facility to Wagner Corporation after the expiration of a 12-month lease, during which time only 730 people used the space.

Mr Miles on Monday said many decision were made during Covid-19 and it “won’t be easy to pick one out” in the context of all that were made.

The State Governments Wellcamp quarantine facility. Picture: Kevin Farmer

He then affirmed he did not regret it.

The Queensland Auditor-General Brendan Worrall last year found the government should have “fully considered” other quarantine options to better ensure value for money for taxpayers before spending $223m building the Wellcamp quarantine facility.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie labelled Mr Miles the “architect” of the Wellcamp quarantine white elephant and slammed the Premier’s lack of regret as a sign of his “cavalier attitude” toward public finances.

“The man who was the architect of this multimillion-dollar failure is now controlling the purse strings for the State, as Premier,” he said.

“What’s worse, Steven Miles said he had “no regrets” about the massive waste.

“It’s this cavalier attitude which led to the Premier thinking it was fine to fly two luxury jets around the State last week. In the middle of a cost of living crisis, Queenslanders care about waste, they care about every dollar.”