Controversial Wellcamp Quarantine Facility

 Queensland's controversial Wellcamp quarantine facility is set to welcome its first "guests".  

Queensland Quarantine Taskforce Commissioner Joanne Greenfield said the first intake would probably be fewer than 10 people to ensure "controlled entry" and the future "flow" would depend on flight schedules.  A small group of unvaccinated international travelers will be taken by bus to the site, just outside Toowoomba, from Brisbane. 

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the travelers were today in hotel quarantine in Brisbane after flying in from New Zealand and would be transferred to Wellcamp tomorrow.  

"We will gradually expand the number of cabins in use [at Wellcamp]," he said.

"You'll recall all the debates about why it was important to phase out hotel quarantine and have a dedicated facility and I'm certainly pleased to have it now."

The quarantine hub is expected to be fully completed in March, although the first 500 beds are ready. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)

The facility was originally intended to take its first group of travelers, international students, before Christmas but hit delays that owner, Toowoomba businessman John Wagner, said were due to wet weather. 

Ms. Greenfield said the first arrivals were likely to be a mixture of tourists, workers and students. 

"We work on the [flight] manifest over today and tomorrow and then we confirm who comes down," she said.

Five hundred beds in the facility are ready for guests, with another 500 expected to be ready by early April. 

State going it alone

The project was initially proposed by Mr. Wagner last year but drew criticism from local community leaders.

Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio said he only learned the project had been commissioned from a media conference he wasn't invited to.

The federal government deemed it unviable, instead approving a joint-run 1,000-bed facility at Pinkenba, near Brisbane Airport.

But the Queensland government pushed ahead, signing a one-year lease at the Wellcamp site with options to extend for up to three years.

Construction firm Wagners first submitted plans for the facility to the Queensland government in January 2021.(ABC: Peter Gunders)

Mr Wagner said while the Christmas deadline may have been missed, stage two was on track to finish on time. 

"I'm not disappointed [it took longer]," he said.  "There's a lot involved in these things."

He said the government would handle all decisions about arrivals.

"We're just the landlords. We look after the grounds and maintenance," he said.  "We've handed it completely over."

The state government has refused to reveal how much the project has cost taxpayers, citing commercial-in-confidence arrangements.

No quarantine for vaccinated travelers

Ms Greenfield said, given the scale of the operation, the project progressed quickly once commissioned. 

"I've been involved since March 2020 and since that time we've had the pleasure of providing quarantine accommodation to over 170,000 people," she said.

"I think that everyone that's worked with us, and the public, have seen that as a really successful frontline defense for Queensland.