Wellcamp quarantine hub: Deputy PM reveals true cost to build and run facility

More than $300,000 per person is how much it is estimated to have Queensland taxpayers to house just 730 people in the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre at Wellcamp. Now the government said it is time to shut the doors.

DEPUTY Premier Steven Miles has revealed the Wellcamp quarantine centre has cost taxpayers about $237 million to build, lease and run just days before the facility is mothballed.

But that admission has been roundly criticised by the Opposition as proof of a wasteful “political stunt”.

The details were released as Mr Miles faced a fiery budget estimates hearing on Wednesday.

Mr Miles told the hearing that the state government had agreed to keep the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre costs commercial-in-confidence so the Wagner Corporation could get the best deal from suppliers during construction.

It was revealed that the final capital and leasing cost was $198.5 million, while about $9 million was spent on cleaning, catering and security via a contract with the Compass Group.

The Aspen Group received $16 million to provide medical services while a further $14.3m was spent on the Quarantine Management Taskforce, which covered hotel quarantine as well.

It was further revealed that the centre would be mothballed on Monday, about seven months after it opened.

Aspen Medical had entered into a $108 million contract to run medical services and it was unclear from the estimates hearing if the government would honour that contract after Wellcamp was mothballed.

Mr Miles added that the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre was considered the “best value” for money compared to other quarantine centres built by the federal government in Brisbane and Perth.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles answers questions about the Wellcamp Covid hub during an Economics and Governance Committee estimates hearing at Parliament House. Picture: Dan Peled

The Wellcamp hub was effectively rendered useless two months ago after quarantine and border restrictions were relaxed. Just three people are at the centre as of Tuesday night and an estimated 730 people have stayed at the centre since it opened at a cost to taxpayers of about $332,000 each.

Mr Miles said the Wagner Corporation gave the government permission to release the specific costs because the centre was due to be mothballed and negotiations with suppliers had largely ended.

He took a swing at the former Morrison Government on several occasions during the hearing, saying the state government had called on it to build a regional quarantine centre for more than a year, but was forced to go it alone.

“If any facility had been started in January 2021 when we were calling for it, it would have been open by mid-2021 when we had thousands of people in hotel quarantine,” Mr Miles said.

Mr Miles told the committee that just before the state government announced it would build the Wellcamp hub it had been forced to cut the number of international arrivals into Queensland because the hotel quarantine facilities were at capacity.

He added that the Wellcamp proposal had been independently reviewed along with a facility in Northern Queensland and was found to be the best value.

“In the month before we opened Wellcamp, hotel quarantine cost us $24 million,” Mr Miles said.

While $237 million for a centre that has been mostly empty since the day it opened may seem like a waste, Mr Miles said it was value for money compared to what other states had lived through.

The sun will set on the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre at Wellcamp when it is mothballed on Monday. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Mr Miles said hotel quarantine was supposed to be temporary, and flaws in the system had resulted in positive cases having contact with the wider community, leading to costly lockdowns.

“The world learned very quickly that without healthy people you can’t grow an economy, and you can’t create jobs in a locked down,” he said.

“We have always taken measures to suppress the spread of Covid.”

Mr Miles pointed to the estimated daily $100 million hit to the Victorian economy when it was locked down for 262 days.

A costly stunt

The revelations were welcomed by the Opposition with LNP members saying the centre was a waste.

“I don’t think anyone could see that as value for money,” Condamine MP Pat Weir said.

“That $233 million figure has been quoted at this stage, but the centre has tied up valuable police resources and resources from other departments for a very small number of people.”

The announcement’s timing was questioned with the LNP seizing on comments from Acting Auditor-General Karen Johnson about the office investigating the deal between Wagner Corporation and the government. Ms Johnson fronted the estimates hearing on Tuesday and signalled that the commercial-in-confidence protection might only apply during the bidding phase.

Condamine MP Pat Weir said the Wellcamp Covid hub was a costly political stunt.

“The government knew it wasn’t going to stack up,” Mr Weir said.

“There was a big rush because this was a political stunt by the premier to get a win over the PM in the lead-up to the federal election and Queenslanders are paying the price for that stunt.”

The centre sits in Mr Weir’s electorate, and he is worried it will lay dormant for good. While there are calls to house people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence, he said he doubted that would ever happen because the site was isolated and foreboding.

“They are only small rooms and not something you would want to stay in for a long period,” Mr Weir said.

“If you have just escaped a domestic violence situation and you are put in the donga at Wellcamp then the risk of severe mental health impacts are very high.”

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the “Wellcamp waste will forever be remembered as the price Queenslanders pay when this government prioritises politics over the genuine needs of Queenslanders”.

“We were promised a future proofing facility yet all we got was proof the state government can’t be trusted with your money to plan for our future,” he said.

“This was a trigger happy decision to try and wedge the former federal government and this waste could’ve funded nearly 2500 nurses in the middle of a health crisis.”

Wagner Corporation Chairman John Wagner declined to comment on the centre’s future or costs.