The Queensland government says the “detailed plan” for a quarantine hub at Toowoomba is “more urgent now than ever” given the recent outbreaks of the Delta-strain of Covid-19. 

Deputy Premier Steven Miles fronted the media this week to say the Queensland government had been working on an alternative to hotel quarantine since September and “remained committed” to the 1000-bed Wellcamp facility proposed by millionaire John Wagner.

“We think it has distinct advantages, not the least of which, the planning is already done and ready to go,” Mr Miles said. 

His comments came as the state government agreed to work with Canberra to build a quarantine facility in Pinkenba. 

The 1,000 room facility could accommodate up to 1,450 people, taking in a maximum of 800 people per fortnight in its initial stages.

“Which would allow roughly two ... repatriation flights a week to bring those stranded Aussies home,” Mr Miles said.

Federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham told the ABC his government had chosen the Pinkenba site after searching Federal Government landholdings “to identify a site close to the international airport and sufficiently close to hospitals”.

He once again rejected the idea of federal support for the Wellcamp proposal, following up on the Prime Minister’s statements last month that it failed to meet "key requirements".

But Queensland’s Deputy Premier said supporting Pinkenba did not rule out Wellcamp. 

“We'd like to see progress on both facilities,” he said.

Debate about the Wellcamp facility has been raging up on the range for months, with some seeing it as a means to create jobs and put Toowoomba on the map and others claiming it would put the Garden City in peril. 

Its Federal Member, the LNP’s Garth Hamilton told the Guardian & Tribune in April that Toowoomba’s healthcare system was “overrun as it is”. 

“Our Toowoomba Base Hospital is well past its use-by-date,” he said.