Premier calls for Commonwealth to say yes or no to idea of quarantine hub at Wellcamp

The Premier said the time had come for the Commonwealth to say yes or no to the idea of a quarantine hub at Wellcamp, adding that there was “a lot of community support out there” for the proposal.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the State Government needs to hear from the Commonwealth whether it is interested or not in its proposal for a quarantine hub at Wellcamp.

When asked whether the proposal was dead in the water, the Premier said she honestly believed the quarantine hub had merit.

She also said there was “a lot of community support out there” for the proposal.

“I know people talk to me about it. It makes logical sense if they want to bring more vulnerable Australians home.

“What we need to hear from the Commonwealth is: Are you interested or not?” she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison batted away questions on the Wellcamp proposal during an earlier press conference, saying: “I need a detailed costed proposal that the Commonwealth could consider. As yet we don’t have a costed proposal that we could consider.”

He also made the point that hotel quarantine arrangements had worked most effectively where they were close to major airports.

“I think this is a very important point. The flights go to where they’re designated to go,” he said.

“Australia can’t just redirect flights, commercial flights of airlines, to go to other ports where they don’t have the ground crew and the other supports that go to supporting the aviation industry.

“Often times that includes the freight and other things that go in the belly of the planes themselves.”

Mr Morrison said it was different for facilities like Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, which was accepting Australian Government-chartered flights.

On the point of the Commonwealth being unable to redirect flights, the Premier said “it just sounds like an excuse to me”.

“If they can have charter flights going to Howard Springs, if they want charter flights to go into Wellcamp, they can make it happen,” she said.

“John Wagner has provided all of the details of his proposal to the Commonwealth.

“We have had lengthy discussions at departmental level. We need to know are the Commonwealth interested or not. I mean it’s very fundamental. They are the people who have to allow the airlines to land into Wellcamp.

“I think the time has now come - we need a yes or a no.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she was going to continue discussing the proposal with the Prime Minister “offline”.

Originally published as Premier calls for Commonwealth to say yes or no to idea of quarantine hub at Wellcamp