Premier talks of wanting two Covid quarantine hubs in Queensland

The Premier remains committed to building a Covid quarantine hub at Wellcamp despite moving forward with the Federal Government on its proposed hub at Pinkenba.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeated called for the Commonwealth to get moving on the Wellcamp Covid quarantine hub. Picture: Jono Searle

THE Premier remains committed to building a Covid quarantine hub at Wellcamp despite moving forward with the Federal Government on its proposed hub at Pinkenba.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Wellcamp proposal was detailed and ready to go, while the Commonwealth’s proposal was only now starting to be developed.

“This one in Pinkenba will not be up and running until early next year, and the proposal in Toowoomba could be up and running in two months, and we know there are flights that will be willing to fly there,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said if both centres were operational then they would bring an end to hotel quarantine.

The Queensland Government has appointed consultants to begin drafting costs and plans for the 1000-room facility at the Damascus Barracks near the Brisbane Airport.

When operational, it could process about 800 people each fortnight and house up to 1450 returned travellers.

Despite the Premier’s repeated calls for the Commonwealth to endorse the Wellcamp proposal, it is unlikely to advance.

A Commonwealth spokeswoman said this was in part because the Wellcamp proposal failed the Key Assessment Criteria for a Commonwealth Partnership in a Standalone Quarantine Facility.

The checklist details 30 requirements that any new quarantine hub must satisfy.

They include being able to house families, people from at-risk backgrounds and confirmed positive Covid cases with symptoms.

It must also have access to health, welfare and support staff along with ready access to nearby health facilities.

While the Wellcamp proposal may pass on most of requirements, it fails on several key points – namely that it is built on Commonwealth-owned land and that it is close to an airport taking regularly scheduled international commercial passenger flights.

This last point has been the subject of ongoing debate with Ms Palaszczuk saying the Commonwealth refused to clear repatriation flights to land at Wellcamp.

John Wagner declined to comment on the proposal.