Toowoomba Wellcamp quarantine facility costing taxpayers $3.3m per week in 2022-23, alternate uses floated by government

A number of alternate uses have been floated by the state government for the now-defunct Wellcamp quarantine facility, as the true cost the taxpayers is revealed.

The now-defunct Wellcamp quarantine facility could be used to house at-risk people, as pressure mounts on the government to find a new function for the controversial hub.

The 1000-bed hub near Toowoomba has sat empty since August 1, just four months after builder and landlord Wagner Corporation finished its construction in April and a year after it was first announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Budget estimates have revealed the lease and construction of the facility will cost $3.3m per week, with the government to pay Wagner Corp $175m in this financial year and $23.5m in the following period for it.

It means taxpayers have forked out $13.2m for the site since it was mothballed.

Now the Department of Housing has revealed its officials have been on-site to assess the facility and its accommodation merits.

“Officers from the department have visited the site,” a spokeswoman said.

“All available short-term accommodation options remain under consideration, should they meet the varying needs of households requiring temporary accommodation.”

It comes as opposition leader David Crisafulli called out the state government for pushing ahead with the project, which has dubbed “waste-camp”.

“(Friday) marks one year since the Premier, in the middle of a political stoush with the federal government, stood up in Toowoomba and said if you build it, they will come,” he said.

“The state government built it, and they never came.

“It paints the picture of a state government with poor priorities and wasteful spending.”

It's been one year since the Premier stood outside Wellcamp and said, "If you build it, they will come".

The State Government's priorities are all wrong.

I'm speaking live from Rockhampton. https://t.co/EuYSsv5KmU

— David Crisafulli (@DavidCrisafulli) August 25, 2022

Wagner Corp chairman John Wagner was contacted for comment.

Several alternate uses have been floated by Toowoomba leaders, including as a accommodation for domestic violence victims, skilled workers, refugee workers and the homeless.

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise CEO Ali Davenport said the facility’s mothballing presented an opportunity to look at a number of new uses for it.

“As a region we now have an asset that’s been built, so as a region we should now be embracing it,” she said in late July.

“We’re the ones who could be the beneficiaries of it, so let’s change our mindsets around this.”

Originally published as Toowoomba Wellcamp quarantine facility costing taxpayers $3.3m per week in 2022-23, alternate uses floated by government