The camp, which was to deal with Covid quarantine of people returning to Queensland, cost taxpayers $223 million, or effectively $305,000 for each of the 730 people it accommodated before it was closed.

The Audit Office also expressed concern over the Government’s secrecy surrounding the contracts and the report said there needed to be clear guidance for the circumstances under which contractual information can and should be released, but the report was muted in its overall criticism and spelt out how timing was really a key issue for the Government as was the complexity in dealing with quarantine measures.

Although the cost of Wellcamp was high, it said the procurement process was reasonable.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the decision to go ahead was taken the day after the state’s hotel quarantine reached capacity.

But the report said that while there was still uncertainty at the time of entering the contract about the continuing impact of the pandemic “alternatives such as home and hotel quarantine were available”.  About 93 hotels were used during the period for quarantine.

“This should have been more fully considered at the time of entering the contract … to better ensure value for money for taxpayers,” the report said.

The report said the Audit Office believed that other information should have been more fully considered at the time of entering the contract such as the fact that double vaccination was progressing towards its targets and that there was a National Plan that included a relaxation of quarantine requirements.

A report published in October 2020, well before the Government signed the Wellcamp contract, found that hotel quarantine was largely effective as a first line of defence, but came at a high cost, was complex and had emotional and physical impacts on those involved.

“While there was still significant uncertainty on the continuing impact of the pandemic at this time (of signing the contract), alternates such as home and hotel quarantine were available. This should have been more fully considered at the time of entering the contract on September 2021 to better ensure value for money for taxpayers,” the report said.

“Shortly after the (Wellcamp facility) was opened to guests in February 2022 the final phase of the National Plan commenced (and) this significantly reduced the need for quarantining, resulting in only 730 people being accommodated at the facility.”

Two months after signing the contract for Wellcamp, a national report recommended “all governments should be stepping down quarantine arrangements and phase out the use of managed quarantine for interstate travellers abd introduce home quarantine where feasible”.

It also found that while there were alternative uses proposed for Wellcamp “they were not projected, supported by evidence or quantified in their assessment”.

The report said construction costs for Wellcamp were $198 million, management services cost $14 million and health services $10 million.

“The Queensland Government’s request for financial support from the Australian Government, which was not given, was based on an expected cost of $776 million over three years.”

The Auditor General also said disclosure about the contracts could have been better and made recommendations about how this could occur.

But it also highlighted the difficulty the State Government was facing at the time with Covid outbreaks occurring in hotels used for quarantining.

After a hotel outbreak in January 2021, an investigation highlighted the complexity of the quarantine arrangements and said hotel quarantines would continue to be high risk and would be operating in an inherently unpredictable environment.

The Premier said the decision to go it alone was because the Morrison Government refused to live up to its constitutional responsibility to provide quarantine facilities.

“Significantly, the chief health officer did not recommend home quarantine,” she said

“Everything I did during the pandemic was to keep Queensland safe.

“That compared with the facility the Morrison Government eventually built at Pinkenba that cost double the price, took twice as lone and housed no one and escapes public scrutiny or public discussion.”

Opposition deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie said Wellcamp had been exposed as as political stunt from the Palaszczuk Government.

“Wellcamp was a get-square with the Federal (Morrison) Government,” he said.

“It’s clear they didn’t listen, and they didn’t care about wasting taxpayers’ money on a political hatchet job.

“Time after time they hid behind commercial-in-confidence, when they should have released the details to Queenslanders.”