Wellcamp quarantine facility: Queensland Audit Office to release report into $237m project

The Queensland Audit Office has revealed its report into the controversial Wellcamp quarantine facility will be released in parliament on Friday.

The Queensland Audit Office will on Friday release its anticipated report into the beleaguered Wellcamp quarantine facility built outside Toowoomba.

It comes nearly a year after the facility, officially known as the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre, was mothballed and more than two-and-a-half years since it was first proposed.

In January 2021, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced her government would submit a proposal to the Federal Government to host arrivals coming into the state as Covid-19 border restrictions continued.

The proposal quickly drew division across the community, and heightened tensions between the state and federal governments on how to handle the Covid pandemic.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in May that year the proposal lacked detail and questioned the viability of Toowoomba to host such a facility.

Eventually, the state government decided to go it alone.

The Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre. Picture: Kevin Farmer

In August 2021, Ms Palaszczuk announced a partnership with the Wagners to build the 1000-bed facility.

The government ultimately spent $237 million to build, lease and run the facility.

Nearly $50 million of this was given to the Wagner Corporation to build the quarantine centre, and about $150 million to lease it for 12 months.

Construction on the facility began in October 2021, with the first 500 beds available for travellers in February 2022.

But a lack of need for the facility quickly became apparent.

As Covid restrictions began to ease across the state and the country, so did the need for quarantine facilities.

A little more than 700 people stayed at Wellcamp between February and July, equating to more than $300,000 spent on each person.

John Wagner (left) and Deputy Premier Steven Miles at the quarantine hub. Picture: Nev Madsen.

At one point, only seven people were staying in the centre.

By mid-year, the chief health officer announced there was no longer a public health requirement for quarantine and isolation facilities.

The state government ended its lease in August 2022 and the facility was mothballed.

A plan to build a similar facility in Pinkenba was also abandoned.

The privately-owned Wagner Corporation has maintained ownership of the hub since the lease was terminated.

Organisations have floated the idea of alternate uses for the facility, including emergency accommodation for domestic violence victims or skilled workers.

Ten months on, the centre remains in limbo.

John Wagner with Annastacia Palaszczuk and Steven Miles at the quarantine hub shortly after it opened. Picture: Nev Madsen.

The Opposition has repeatedly criticised the hub since its inception.

Following budget estimates in July 2022 that revealed the cost of the facility, Condamine MP Pat Weir labelled it a costly political stunt.

“There was a big rush because this was a political stunt by the premier to get a win over the PM in the lead-up to the federal election and Queenslanders are paying the price for that stunt,” Mr Weir said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles told estimates the facility could have been built much sooner if the federal government had agreed to the proposal.

“If any facility had been started in January 2021 when we were calling for it, it would have been open by mid-2021 when we had thousands of people in hotel quarantine,” Mr Miles said.

Attorney-General Brendan Worrall will table the audit office’s report in state parliament on Friday.

It will examine the procurement of the facility, overall cost, the public disclosure of financial information and use of confidentiality provisions.

Originally published as Wellcamp quarantine facility: Queensland Audit Office to release report into $237m project