Palaszczuk won’t reveal how much quarantine camp cost

The Premier is refusing to reveal how much taxpayer money has been sunk into Wellcamp, which has housed just 60 people since it opened.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Premier Steven Miles visit the Wellcamp quarantine hub on Wednesday. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is refusing to reveal how much taxpayer money was sunk into the state’s dedicated quarantine facility that has housed just 60 people since it opened a fortnight ago.

The Queensland Premier said she would reveal details of the deal – struck with the family-owned Wagner Corporation – only if Scott Morrison released costings of the federal government’s rival facility near Brisbane Airport.

Wagners, which owns the nearby airport on the outskirts of Toowoomba, finished construction on the first 500 beds at the Wellcamp quarantine centre in January. Another 500 beds are expected to be ready in April.

There were 21 travellers at the facility on Wednesday.

Wagners struck a secret deal with the Queensland government last year to lease the facility back to the state for 12 months.

John Wagner, Katarina Carroll, Annastacia Palaszczuk and Steven Miles at The Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre at Wellcamp. Picture: Nev Madsen

The state government has repeatedly insisted it could not reveal the cost of the deal because of “commercial-in-confidence”, even though there was no tender process.

The legitimacy of the ­commercial-in-confidence claim was put into doubt on Wednesday when Ms Palas­zczuk said she would release the costs. “Now the federal government is also building a Pinkenba facility,” she said. “If at some stage they want to release those costs, we are more than happy to release our costs.

“What I will say is my understanding is the total amount to build this facility is less than any other facility in Australia.”

The Morrison government has committed to release costings for the Pinkenba site as it nears completion. It has spent about $580m on a similar facility in Melbourne, opening next week.

Labor last year used the Wellcamp centre as a political tool to criticise the Prime Minister for hotel quarantine failures as he continuously blocked the proposal. Federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said unlike Wellcamp, which the state is renting, Pinkenba would be there for decades to come.