Victoria briefing contractors on quarantine facility

Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino with Acting Police and Emergency Services Minister Danny Pearson and Corrections Commissioner Emma Cassar at a press conference to announce plans for a new quarantine facility north of Melbourne. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Theink is barely dry on ScoMo’s memorandum of understanding to tip Commonwealth funds into James Merlino’s so-called Alternative Quarantine Accommodation project, but Victoria’s Labor government has been cracking on behind the scenes to deliver an initial 500-bed facility by the start of next year.

The Prime Minister came to locked-down Victoria’s aid on Thursday as Melbourne was poised to begin week two of its fourth lockdown, and only late in the day agreed to help fund the state’s plans for a facility.

Regardless, Margin Call hears a high-powered team led by Chris Keating, who usually heads up the Victorian School Building Authority, and including state quarantine head Emma Cassar, was already calling for expressions of interest from contractors to participate in the construction (on federal land) of what is planned to ultimately be a 3000-bed facility.

On Thursday, Keating briefed potential contractors and told them the government was pushing an aggressive timetable, which was not dependent on which site Morrison selected of the two under consideration – one near transport billionaireLindsay Fox’sAvalon Airport and the other at Donnybrook near Mickleham, with the latter the state’s preferred option.

The expressions of interest process closes on June 17, with a shortlist of up to five potential contractors due by the end of this month. This will be followed by a “request for tender” in July, with proposals due in August and contracts to be awarded in mid-August.

While all that happens, the AQA team are pressing on with design of the facility, which will be about 75 per cent set by the time contracts are signed.

That means that by the start of September a “shovel-ready” project with signed contracts could be signed off by the state and federal governments, with construction to then start immediately.

A five-month build would then deliver 500 beds.

Waiting game

So once the Covid crisis has passed, are the feds just left owning a white elephant piece of infrastructure?

According to AQA materials seen by Margin Call, the plan is for the permanent facility to be used for any subsequent pandemics, along with the likes of natural disasters and public housing. Remember, there was talk at one stage pre-pandemic of the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory becoming a retirement village.

The Victorian facility is being designed in “blocks” that can accommodate 250 people, not coincidentally about the same as the number carried in on an international flight. Visitors would not leave their fully self-contained block until exiting the facility and would be taken care of by dedicated staff that only service that block.

The facility would be divided into “suburbs” of 1000 beds – one suburb would comprise four blocks, with the three suburbs to be built around a central core facilities hub.

The facility has been designed to be site agnostic, with part of the state government’s pitch to the Commonwealth being that the developed blueprint could be quickly rolled out in other states.

Plans seen by Margin Call reveal modular buildings featuring single and family rooms akin to that seen in mining camps to allow for streamlined manufacture and speedy delivery.

Once tenders are received the AQA team will mix and match what it sees as the best and strongest contractors for the project, rather than accepting already formed consortia.

All the Victorian team is waiting for now is sign-off from the Morrison government that it wants to play its part in the southern state’s latest big build, which will see an end to hotel quarantine.

“There are a lot of things that we are waiting for when it comes to the Morrison government,” Victorian acting Premier James Merlino said at his daily Covid presser on Thursday.

Waiting for the end of the latest lockdown too.

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Star gazing

The Prime Minister’s daggy dad status went up a notch this week, with ScoMo gushing openly about seeing 90s pop icon and recently revived superstar Tina Arena not once but twice in the space of a week.

“I am a self-appointed patron of the Tina Arena appreciation society,” he told a packed Great Hall in Canberra after her first act for the Mineral Council’s Parliamentary Dinner, adding he and Jenny had also watched the singer’s Saturday night concert at Canberra’s Llewellyn Hall.

Illustration: Rod Clement

While the PM’s latest member’s interests note hasn’t yet been updated, his levels of fangirling suggests the couple may have even forked out their own hard earned cash for the tickets.

Lucky then that he got at least two renditions of her smash hit Sorrento Moon.

Such is the pulling power of the annual event, as Resources Minister Keith Pitt told Question Time the following day, that “even the superstars are turning out”.

And he’s not just talking about Arena.

Superstars look a little different in the minerals world of course – take Tom Palmer, president and chief of the NYSE-listed Newmont, in charge of the $67 billion company’s copper and gold operations across the world, including two down under.

Palmer and wife Clare joined Morrison’s top table for the night – their relocation to Perth from Denver in the early days of coronavirus a likely topic for discussion.

The mining boss is what some describe as mining royalty as the son of Rio Tinto veteran Terry Palmer, and who himself worked as head of iron ore under Jean-Sebastian Jacques for a time.

That would have given him plenty to chat about across the table with the incumbent in the role, Simon Trott, who was appointed in Rio CEO Jakob Stausholm’sreshuffle just over four months ago.

Adding a little diversity outside all the Pilbara enthusiasts on the table was senate president Scott Ryan, the PM’s chief of staff John Kunkel, while Tesla chair and successor to Elon Musk, Robyn Denholm was also in the mix along with Lynas chief Amanda Lacaze.

Minerals Council’s chairHelen Coonan, perhaps better known for her chairmanship at Crown Resorts, and her chief Tania Constable both warmed up the mic for ScoMo on the night, though they barely made any mention of Arena worthy of his appreciation society.

On the basis of Pitt’s QT performance, it looks like the membership stands at just two.

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Not so fast

While Crown chair Helen Coonan was talking rocks in Canberra, the group’s lawyers in Melbourne were working hard to protect the corporate brand.

In Thursday’s grilling beforeRay Finkelstein’s royal commission Michael Borsky QC, Crown’s representative, was at pains to stress how co-operative the group had been during the six-week probe.

Just like his former Hayne royal commission pal Rowena Orr, who acted for Crown in the NSW inquiry, Borsky has been on the defence, and on this occasion took umbrage at an intimation from counsel assisting Adrian Finanzio that Crown was being tardy with producing documents.

Michael Borsky QC, Counsel for Crown. Picture: Supplied.

“The documents in question were produced yesterday (Wednesday) by Crown, and that was in fact earlier than the production that had been sought by the commission,” Borsky protested.

“The commission’s notice called for production of the documents by 4pm today (Thursday), but the documents were produced yesterday.”

But Finkelstein would have none of it.

“Yeah, that’s perfectly true Mr Borsky. Under the statute, as you know, everybody has to be given seven days’ notice (to produce documents). That doesn’t mean you have to wait out seven days’ notice.

“You can give them within 24 hours if you had the mind to do it. But it’s really a side issue.”

Add it to the list.

James Merlino

Tina Arena

Michael Borsky