Toowoomba quarantine plan will cost $66m, ‘no risk to taxpayer’ says developer
The developer of Queensland’s new COVID-19 quarantine camp says the cost will be less than $66 million, but the federal government is questioning its viability.
The Palaszczuk government has started building a 1000-bed facility at Wellcamp, near Toowoomba, after the Commonwealth rejected the project.
About 500 beds are expected be operating by the end of the year with another 500 to come online by the first quarter of 2022.
The state will rent the facility from the Wagner Group, which is developing the site, for an initial 12 months.
Developer John Wagner says it will cost about a third of Victoria’s $200 million facility, which will mostly be funded by the Commonwealth.
“The cost of our facility will be less than a third of Victoria, less than a third of Howard Springs, and we’re taking all the construction risk, and we’re taking the risk if, at the end of 12 months, the Queensland government no longer need a quarantine facility,” Wagner told Nine’s Today program on Friday.
“We have an alternate use for this facility.
“I think it’s a very low-risk thing for the Queensland taxpayer.”
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The prime minister was blindsided by the announcement that the project was underway on Thursday, as was Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio.
Some Toowoomba locals such as federal Liberal National Party MP Garth Hamilton and philanthropist Clive Berghofer oppose the facility.
In response to a petition from Berghofer, signed by almost 6,000 people who shared his concerns of a COVID-19 breach, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath previously insisted it would not go ahead without support.
“The establishment of a regional quarantine facility, such as Wellcamp, would significantly bolster Queensland’s ability to safely accommodate international arrivals,” D’Ath said in a letter tabled in parliament in April.
“However, the establishment of any facility is dependent on operational support from the Australian Government and agreement from local, government and industry stakeholders, along with consideration of local operational issues.”
While Antonio is not totally opposed to the project he said there’s been a lack of consultation.
Wagner said nothing has stopped the mayor calling Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to speak about the project, which will boost the local economy.
“What Paul needs to understand, and what all the people in Toowoomba need to understand, this is a great thing for our region,” he said.
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“Four hundred plus jobs through construction, a lot of ongoing jobs, 3000 meals a day, which will significantly help our local producers.”
But Defence Minister Peter Dutton questioned the viability of the project, saying it has generated a lot of local anger in Toowoomba.
Dutton said without federal clearance for flights to land at Wellcamp airport it was unclear whether it was safe to bus people to the camp from Brisbane.
Moving staff to and from the facility, he said, created a risk of a COVID-19 breach.
“Not even the local mayor was aware of what I think the ‘Courier Mail’ described this morning as a political stunt by (Deputy Premier) Steven Miles,” the defence minister told the Nine network.
“I just think people are over this sort of stuff.
“People want us all to work together, to get out of lockdown as quickly as possible, get their kids back to school, get to see their grandkids again.
“That’s what the Prime Minister’s working toward with the premiers at national cabinet today.”
The Queensland government and the federal government are also working on plans for another 800-bed quarantine facility at Pinkenba near Brisbane airport, despite contamination on site threatening the budget and timeframe.
The Wellcamp announcement came a day after the Palaszczuk Government put a two-week ‘pause’ on most interstate arrivals to hotel quarantine.
With border restrictions funnelling more travellers into hotel quarantine, Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young had expressed concern that new hotels and staff were having to be brought into the system at short notice.
-With Sean Parnell
