Only seven patients in 1000-bed Wellcamp quarantine centre

Just seven people are isolating at Queensland’s 1000-bed Covid quarantine facility, which is costing taxpayers close to $4m each week.

Security workers patrol the near-empty Covid quarantine facility near Wellcamp airport just outside Toowoomba, Queensland, on Tuesday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Just seven people are isolating at Queensland’s 1000-bed Covid quarantine facility, which is costing taxpayers close to $4m each week.

Wellcamp has housed only 652 people since it opened in February – an average of 41 guests each week – but those numbers have dwindled since mandatory quarantine was scrapped for unvaccinated international arrivals last month.

Details of the project have been shrouded in secrecy, with the Palaszczuk government repeatedly refusing to reveal how much it has spent on Wellcamp, privately owned by the Toowoomba-based Wagner Corporation. The government has not disputed reports the total cost of Wellcamp is at least $190m in its first year of operation, including the state’s leasing of the facility.

It has revealed $48.8m was spent on construction, while documents obtained by The Australian revealed $40m was spent for a medical company to provide services.

No open tender process was undertaken before the government paid to help build the facility for the Wagner Corporation, which owns the adjacent airport, or before Aspen Medical was awarded the lucrative contract to provide medical services.

Wellcamp was rendered ­effectively useless in late April when the government axed the isolation requirements for unvaccinated international travellers.

Since isolation rules changed on April 28, 103 people have stayed at Wellcamp, or about 23 guests a week.

A spokeswoman for Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Wellcamp was still being used for people who test positive to Covid but do not have a suitable place to isolate, such as the homeless or domestic violence victims.

Others who have stayed at Wellcamp after travelling rules were relaxed include Covid-positive patients who live with immunocompromised people, flood victims and refugees.

“Without (Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre), some of the most at-risk individuals in the community would not have a safe place to stay whilst dealing with COVID-19,” Mr Miles’ spokeswoman said.

There were just seven guests staying at Wellcamp on Monday.

Annastacia Palaszczuk announced last August the state would go it alone and build the Wellcamp facility in the face of opposition from the then-Morrison government, which had already flagged plans to build a quarantine centre at Pinkenba, near Brisbane Airport.

The Liberal National Party believes Wellcamp will cost more than $200m in its first year of operation. “The state government has completely lost the plot if they think it’s acceptable to spend over $200m on a facility that has seven people in it,” Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie said.

“The facility is so bare, some of the bedrooms have never been unlocked or bedsheets washed.”

Mr Bleijie wrote to Auditor-General Brendan Worrall in February requesting he audit the secret Wellcamp deal to investigate the use of taxpayers’ money.

A spokeswoman for Mr Worrall said the audit office was still seeking information from government departments.

“This will include identifying the various costs, understanding the procurement process, and reviewing leases and other agreements including the use of confidentiality provisions,” she said.

“We will consider further actions once we have obtained and assessed this information.”

The state is locked into a 12-month lease with the Wagners, which is due to expire in February 2023.

The government has been under pressure to justify value for money for taxpayers, given the cost for renting hotel rooms to isolate vulnerable people would be much cheaper. Government officials last month met representatives from the cruise ship industry to discuss options to use Wellcamp if a Covid-19 outbreak occurred on board.

Labor last year used the Wellcamp centre as a political tool to criticise Scott Morrison for hotel quarantine failures as he continuously blocked the proposal.

After repeated requests for federal funding were knocked back in an eight-month stalemate with the Morrison government, Ms Palaszczuk made the surprise announcement that the state would build the facility itself.

The Morrison government later announced it would construct a quarantine centre at Pinkenba, due to open in June, which will be owned by federal taxpayers and could be used for future pandemics, temporary housing for refugees or disaster management accommodation.