Hotel quarantine Melbourne: Calls to reopen historic Point Nepean
An inner city MP wants returning travellers to isolate on the Mornington Peninsula. What do you think?
South East
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A historic quarantine station on the Mornington Peninsula has been flagged as a potential replacement for Melbourne’s troubled hotel quarantine program.
Kew MP Tim Smith suggested the remote Point Nepean site would be a more suitable place for returning travellers to serve their mandatory 14 day quarantine than inner city hotels.
The Liberal politician floated the idea the day after the virus once again escaped hotel quarantine and a worker traversed Melbourne while unknowingly infected with the mutant UK strain of COVID-19.
“There has to be a solution where staff working in these hotels don’t then spread the virus through the community without their knowledge,” Mr Smith told Sky News.
He acknowledged Point Nepean would need “a huge amount of work to get the place up to speed to be able to host returned travellers”.
“It was last used in 1999/2000 to house 400 Kosovo refugees,” he said.
Mornington Peninsula Mayor Despi O’Connor said the plan could bring economic and employment benefits for the region.
“There is huge unemployment on the Mornington Peninsula and a project like that would mean a lot of jobs.
“But I’m not sure residents would be comfortable with the risk associated with potential exposure if the virus escaped.”
Cr O’Connor said the site was also not well serviced and making it suitable for a modern quarantine program would be costly.
“Who would pay for that?” she said.
Nepean Conservation Group president Dr Ursula de Jong said the idea was worth discussing.
“It would need to be well thought out and planned, but it has merit,” she said.
“Aside from the amount of work needed to make it operable again we would have to consider if we want to give up that area as national park.
“We fought hard for it to be protected and open to the public.”
The Point Nepean Quarantine Station was opened in 1852 and is the second oldest intact quarantine station in Australia.
It has housed people with everything from Spanish flu to leprosy and catered for infected animals as well as humans.
The site was later used as an army barracks and in 2009 became part of the Point Nepean National Park.
In 2020 a plan to create a $25 million marine and coastal research centre was proposed to “revitalise” old buildings at Point Nepean.
The centre would be run by the University of Melbourne in conjunction with Monash University with the aim of championing climate science.
A business case and proposal is being developed by the universities in partnership with Parks Victoria.
Parks Victoria said it could not comment on the suggestion that Point Nepean could become a modern quarantine station.
It referred questions to the Department of Health and Human Services who in turn said COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria was handling all quarantine questions.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria has been contacted.
