Mike Pezzullo asked Department of Home Affairs to engage PM mates’ firm

A privately run quarantine scheme was pushing the Department of Home Affairs to repatriate stranded Australians – despite claims it was for skilled visa holders.

Mike Pezzullo during a Senate enquiry in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

A privately run quarantine scheme directed by two of Scott Morrison’s best friends was pushing the Department of Home Affairs to repatriate over 30,000 stranded Australians – despite claims the facility was primarily for skilled visa holders and international students.

It comes as emails from Department of Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo reveal he only received an amended proposal from DPG Advisory Solutions seven hours before he directed his department to engage the company on an “urgent advisory” basis.

DPG Advisory Solutions was founded and run by former Liberal Party candidate David Gazard, who previously worked as a Coalition ministerial adviser and Scott Briggs, the former deputy director of the Liberal party.

Both are long-time confidants of the Prime Minister.

A governmental proposal drawn up by Quarantine Services Australia, obtained by The Australian, reveals the company was aiming to quarantine 20,000+ people per month, or over 240,000 over a 12-month period.

The proposal claimed the ostensibly not-for-profit initiative would be at “minimal cost” to government.

Under its pricing model, quarantine spot were slated to be up to $13,500 for two weeks, or $2,700 and $4,700 for shorter three-day “catch and release” spots. State run quarantine stays cost about $3,000 for two weeks.

“An estimated +30,000 Australians are unable to re-enter the country due to a combination of availability of air transportation, health/vaccination and cost,” the proposal reads.

“Any reopening of borders to foreigners must be accompanied with an operationalised plan visibly driving the return of Australians prior to Christmas.”

The revelations come despite Mr Pezzullo telling in senate estimates in November, that the proposal was primarily designed to bring in skilled workers and university students which would be of “direct interest” to the commonwealth.

QSA has previously said it will “operate on a not-for-profit basis” to serve industry and bring in skilled and unskilled workers under the government’s labour migrant schemes.

Questions also have been raised about why the Department of Home Affairs had taken it upon themselves to organise the initiative, given the Prime Minister had repeatedly stipulated that quarantine facilities was an issue for the states.

In its proposal, QSA said its services could be a “cost-effective” means to the federal government to meet its “constitutional obligations” associated with quarantine management prior to the establishment of permanent facilities.

The monthly retainer it proposes has been redacted.

Contractual documents have also revealed the proposal sought a government commitment of $79,950 to procure a feasibility study for the program, enabling it to fall below the relevant procurement threshold and thus avoid an open tender process and scrutiny requirements.

Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally called for Mr Morrison to “come clean” on what he knew about QSA, labelling the scheme a “money for mates” proposition.

Scott Morrison has previously denied having any knowledge of the proposal.

“If you were setting out to write a movie script about a conflict of interest, money for mates proposition, you couldn’t do much better than Quarantine Service Australia,” Senator Keneally said.

“If the Morrison-Joyce government was insisting we needed private sector fee-for-service quarantine, that was going to be run by Liberal party mates, and funnelled money into Liberal Party mates’ back pockets, then we‘ve got some serious issues that need to be examined.

“For a government that was determined to make quarantine a state responsibility, the Morrison-Joyce government seemed very interested in supporting a quarantine scheme that looks as though it would have made a handful of Liberals very rich.”

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs reiterated that the department does not hold a contract with QSA.

“The decision for companies, including DPG, to be involved in QSA is a matter for each company and the Department of Home Affairs plays no role in the administration, or funding of QSA,” a spokeswoman said.