Australia’s Sunshine State has given away a $220 million (US$146 million) taxpayer-funded quarantine facility after it housed just 730 travellers over a 14-month period.
The cost equates to around $300,000 per person.
The Queensland Labor government will return control of the facility to the Wagner Corporation upon expiration of the lease, who will then run it as a private hotel.
“This is the worst decision ever made by a state government on behalf of taxpayers,” Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie told the Courier-Mail.
“The premier has never apologised for it and she should because Queenslanders will be paying the price for this waste for a long time to come.”
“It’s a $500,000 a day check-out bill that could have helped Queenslanders in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.”
Quarantine Facility Supposed to Keep Queenslanders ‘Safe’
In late 2021, Queensland and other state governments said there was an urgent need for quarantine facilities in order to keep Australians safe by lowering the risk of COVID-19 spreading.
“As Australia contends with the dangerous Delta variant, Queensland must have alternatives to hotel quarantine that offer enhanced public safety,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in Aug. 2021.
“That’s why we’re getting on with building the 1000-bed, dedicated facility near Wellcamp airport that will greatly reduce reliance on hotel quarantine.”
“This decisive action will keep Queenslanders safe and support our economic recovery to keep people in jobs.”
This was despite the federal government building alternative facilities in the capital of the state Brisbane.
Further, shortly after completing construction in Feb 2022, the country relaxed COVID-19 borders and restrictions, quickly removing the need for quarantine facilities.
The state opposition requested a formal audit to investigate the cost and decisions of the Wellcamp facility near Toowoomba, 127 kilometres west of Brisbane.
Queensland State Audit office said a public report on the facility is still being delayed.
“Our audit of the project is largely complete and we are in the process of resolving some follow-up questions with the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning,” they said in an update to its website.