The $200 million quarantine facility in Perth’s north, which was funded by the Commonwealth, has become an expensive project that Premier Mark McGowan is uncertain what to do with once it is finished in the middle of this year.
The Bullsbrook “Centre for National Resilience” was announced in August, over a year after the COVID pandemic began. It was meant to largely replace a network of CBD hotels that had been used to quarantine visitors on arrival in Australia.
The Commonwealth agreed to pay the entire construction cost of the facility after months of delay, but it initially expected to deliver it to the McGowan Government in early 2022.
The project is behind schedule, with completion unlikely before late June or early July.
The WA premier informed Budget Estimates that because quarantine has been removed for interstate and international travel, he had no idea how the building would be utilized.
“What to do with it, that is the $64 million question,” he said.
“Maybe there is some use we can put it to outside of a pandemic or a disaster (but) we haven’t quite landed on what that is yet.
“We’re seeking feedback from people as to what it can be used for.”
“It’s not in the heart of the city. So you know, in terms of backpackers or something, it can’t really be used for that.
“It’s out in Bullsbrook near RAAF Base Pearce so we’re trying to think what else can be done with it.”