Scott Morrison ‘open’ to camps quarantine proposal

The Queensland government will push ahead with its proposal to use workers camps to house overseas arrivals after pitching the idea to Scott Morrison.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

A plan to use workers’ camps to house overseas arrivals for quarantine is being advanced by the Queensland government, after it pitched the idea to Scott Morrison, who says he is keeping an “open mind” on the proposal.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met with the Prime Minister to outline the plan on Friday after a national cabinet meeting at which the issue was briefly discussed with other state leaders.

Speaking after the meeting with Mr Morrison, Ms Palaszczuk said the Prime Minister was receptive to the idea and her government would be following up with a detailed formal proposal.

For the plan to work, the state government would need federal approval for inter­national flights to land at Rockhampton and Toowoomba airports.

Ms Palaszczuk said workers’ camps in Gladstone, in central Queensland, and Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, were the two ­options put to Mr Morrison.

“The details of the proposal will be going more formally to the Prime Minister, but we looked at a number of options including Gladstone and Toowoomba,” the Premier said.

“There are a lot of Australians that are currently stranded overseas, a lot of families want their loved ones home, and we have got to put options on the table.

“We have seen what has happened with the British strain of COVID; we are really concerned about that and the impact it can have on large populations.”

The Palaszczuk government raised the idea after Greater Brisbane was locked down when a cleaner at the Grand Chancellor Hotel became infected with the UK strain of COVID-19 from a man in quarantine.

Ms Palaszczuk said her proposal was “very safe”, despite concerns from locals fearing the virus could shut down their communities if it spread from the camp.

Speaking before the meeting with Ms Palaszczuk, Mr Morrison said he was open to the proposal, despite raising local concerns.

“All I have done is simply reflect the views of those I spoke with when I was up in Gladstone,” he said.