Queensland’s COVID-19 Quarantine Camp Lacks Transparency, Value for Money: Auditor-General Report

A supplied image of the Wellcamp quarantine facility in Queensland, Australia, on June 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Supplied by Queensland Government)

A new report has shown that the government of the Australian state of Queensland was not transparent and financially considerate during the construction of a $223 million (US$148 million) COVID-19 quarantine facility in 2021.

On June 30, the Queensland Audit Office released the findings of a year-long investigation into the Wellcamp quarantine facility by Auditor-General Brendan Worrall.

Although the report found that the procurement process of the quarantine camp was reasonable, it noted the Queensland government should have been more considerate in making the decision.

“While there was still significant uncertainty on the continuing impact of the pandemic at this time, alternates such as home and hotel quarantine were available,” it said.

“This should have been more fully considered at the time of entering the contract in September 2021 to better ensure value for money for taxpayers.”

The 1,000-bed facility cost taxpayers $223 million–$199 million in construction and leasing costs and $24 million in running costs, but only operated for about six months before closing down.

The Queensland government decided to fund the camp by itself after the former Coalition government repeatedly rejected its requests for federal quarantine funding.

It commissioned the Wagner Corporation to build the facility on privately-owned land at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, which was then leased back to the state.

Despite the high price tag, the Queensland government only used the quarantine camp for less than 70 days before removing isolation requirements for unvaccinated travellers.

The facility was then mothballed before the 12-month lease expired.

Around 730 people stayed at the facility during its service period, with each person costing the state’s taxpayers $330,000.

At the time, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli criticised the Queensland government for its wasted spending.

“The Wellcamp‘ waste’ will forever be remembered as the price Queenslanders pay when this government prioritises politics over the genuine needs of Queenslanders,” he said.

“The Wellcamp waste happened while the State Government was still paying tens of millions of dollars for empty hotel rooms and with a Commonwealth-owned facility coming online at Pinkenba.”

Transparency Issue of the Quarantine Facility

According to the report, during the negotiation and construction periods, the Queensland government did not release any financial information on the basis that the contract was commercial in confidence and that any information released at that stage could be detrimental.

In the subsequent months following the facility’s opening, the state government still refused to disclose the total cost of the quarantine camp.

It was not until a state parliament’s estimates hearing in late July 2022 that Deputy Premier Steven Miles revealed the value of the contracts to be $198.5 million, which included a capital contribution of $48.8 million.

People are tested for Covid-19 in Gold Coast, Australia, on Jan. 5, 2022. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

While the report found that the Queensland government did not violate the laws in refusing to disclose the cost of the project, it said there was a lack of transparency in relation to the construction contracts.

“We believe that despite the confidentiality provisions in the agreements, the Queensland government should have considered disclosing the total value of the arrangement once the agreements were signed,” Worrall said in the report.

“The contract agreements for (Wellcamp) provided for disclosure of the relevant information to parliament and committees of parliament.

“While the information was disclosed during estimates hearings of parliament, it was not disclosed in answering other questions on notice from members of parliament or in response to general inquiries.”

In light of the lack of transparency issue, the report recommended the state government expand the procurement guidelines to include the purchase and lease of property and the release of information when it was no longer commercially sensitive.

Queensland Government’s Response

Following the report’s release, the Queensland government defended its decision to build the quarantine facility, saying it was made after hotel quarantine facilities across the state reached their capacity in August 2021.

The state government also said the decision was in line with the recommendations of Queensland’s Chief Health Officer.

“Everything I did during the pandemic was to keep Queensland safe,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said while criticising the former Coalition government.

“Had the then federal government worked with us instead of against us, we would have built Wellcamp sooner and avoided a lot of heartache and distress for Queensland families.

“No one can take away Queensland’s world-leading response to this pandemic that enabled us to continue with life as close to normal as possible and vaccinate the majority of our population before the virus arrived.”

It is worth noting that the Wellcamp facility shared a short-lived fate with Victoria’s $$580 Million quarantine hub, which only served 2,168 quarantine patients before shutting down October 2022.