The federal government has flagged that its quarantine hub being built in Western Australia could be used for humanitarian or bushfire crises beyond its use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key points:
- The 1,000-bed hub will be used initally for COVID-19 quarantine
- Premier Mark McGowan says it will eventually have "other purposes"
- Some Bullsbrook locals will be connected to town water
Speaking at a press conference in Perth, federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the 1,000-bed quarantine hub near the Pearce RAAF base in Bullsbrook would, in the long-term, ensure "better, stronger capabilities" to respond to any type of national emergency situation or international event.
"This facility will be here to respond to the next health crisis, to the next international humanitarian crisis, to the next bushfire crisis, potentially," he said.
Mr Birmingham was asked if the centre would be a "white elephant", given the federal government had announced vaccinated Australian arrivals would start being able to quarantine at home from next month.
He said the facility, and another two in Victoria and Queensland, would help as international borders reopen.
"[It will] particularly help us confront questions around non-Australian arrivals into the county, questions around those who may not have homes to quarantine in, questions around those who may not be vaccinated, but need entry into Australia," he said.
ABC: Supplied
)Construction of the facility has begun, with 500 beds set to be built by the first quarter of 2022 and the other 500 at a later point.
"To build a 1,000-bed facility is the equivalent of building several new international hotels," he said.
Facility will have 'other purposes'
The federal government has funded the building of the hub, while the state government will cover its operating costs when it is being used a COVID-19 quarantine facility.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan was asked about the use of the facility, given the federal government's announcement on home quarantine.
"That is an issue," he said. "But we don't control that, the Commonwealth controls that.
"Once the pandemic is over, obviously it will sit there for use for other purposes.
"What those are, we don't have a read on that as yet."
During his press conference, Mr Birmingham encouraged the WA government to set a target date for reopening the state's border to help incentivise people to get vaccinated.
He said all states and territories should aspire to have a vaccination rate as high as possible.
"But there should also be an aspiration to give businesses certainty about when borders will be open, to give families certainty about when they can reunite with loved ones and to align that with vaccination targets to help drive the momentum to get people vaccinated and to give them that maximum incentive to do so," he said.
Mr McGowan said the WA government would eventually set a target date, but he did not want to do it too early as he wanted to watch what happened in New South Wales and Victoria as they eased restrictions.
WA is expected to have between 80 and 90 per cent of its population vaccinated in December, Mr McGowan said.
"That'll allow us to consider setting a date some time after that," he said.
Community to get access to town water
The federal government has also announced that it would provide town water to locals impacted by groundwater contamination near the site.
Bullsbrook residents have raised concerns for years about toxic chemicals from fire-fighting foam which leached into the soil from the air base.
The contamination has forced locals to use bottled water to drink, cook and wash dishes.
Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said, clearly, it was not satisfactory for people to be living on bottled water and the department had been working on a solution for "some time" and hoped the process could begin early next year.
"The Morrison government is indeed going to provide town scheme water to those impacted families, which I'm sure is incredibly good news for not only those impacted families, but [also] the broader community," she said.
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2021-10-07 07:55:38Z
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