Defiance over near-empty Covid camp at Wellcamp

Annastacia Palaszczuk has ­defended her government’s $200m investment in a privately owned quarantine facility that is housing fewer than a dozen ­people.

Facility workers inside the practically empty Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre in Wellcamp, west of Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Annastacia Palaszczuk has ­defended her government’s $200m investment in a privately owned quarantine facility that is housing fewer than a dozen ­people.

Queensland taxpayers will spend tens of millions of dollars renting the quarantine centre at Wellcamp, near Toowoomba, for another eight months despite the state scrapping its remaining Covid-19 quarantine rules in April.

A secret deal was struck last August between the Palaszczuk government and the family-owned Wagner Corporation to build the 1000-bed facility, which has had just 652 guests since it opened in February. The Australian revealed on Tuesday that Wellcamp was housing just seven guests this week.

The government has not disputed reports the total cost of Wellcamp is at least $190m in its first year of operation, including $48.8m towards construction and $40m for a medical company to provide services. Another facility, built and owned by the federal government, is due to open at Pinkenba near Brisbane Airport this month and will cost taxpayers between $350m and $400m.

Asked what the point of the under-utilised Wellcamp centre was when the federal government had built another facility in Brisbane, the Premier said: “Well, did anyone know that there was a pandemic coming?

“Scott Morrison failed to act, and we now have a dedicated quarantine facility for whatever may happen in the future. There’s also one in Victoria, there’s also one in Western Australia, there’s one in the Northern Territory, and Queensland should have one as well.

“There are a lot of opportunities for it to be used by a whole range of people.”

Ms Palaszczuk again refused to confirm the cost of the Wellcamp lease on Wednesday, even though there was no tender process before the contract was awarded.

The legitimacy of the ­government’s repeated commercial-in-confidence claim was put into doubt in February when Ms Palas­zczuk said she would release the total cost of Wellcamp if the commonwealth did the same with its Pinkenba facility.

“If at some stage they want to release those costs, we are more than happy to release our costs,” she said.

The Liberal National Party wrote to Auditor-General Brendan Worrall earlier this year requesting he audit the secret Wellcamp deal to investigate the use of taxpayers’ money.

LNP leader David Crisafulli ­believes commercial confidentiality provisions do not apply to Wellcamp because there had not been an open tender process.

“The figure of $200m has never been disputed,” he said.

“I have grave concerns that it is going to be a bill that Queenslanders continue to pay for a long, long time.

“The lease expires at the start of next year, and the government has already flushed millions of dollars down the drain on a facility that Queenslanders will never own.”

Ms Palaszczuk would not say if the Wellcamp lease would be ­extended past February next year.

A spokeswoman for Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Wellcamp was still being used for people who tested positive for Covid but did 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.