Another of the federal government’s Covid quarantine hubs has closed, leaving taxpayers hundreds of millions out of pocket.
It was announced on Tuesday that the quarantine facility, 40km north of Melbourne at Mickleham and known as the Center for National Resilience, will close next week.
The $580 million center housed just 2,168 people since it opened in February, meaning it cost more than $267,000 per person quarantined.
It follows the completion of another federally funded hub at Pinkenba in Brisbane and a $400 million one in Bullsbrook, WA, which is yet to open.
Victoria’s quarantine centre, the Center for National Resilience in Mickleham, will close next week (pictured, a staff member walking through the Mickleham centre)
The Victorian quarantine facility was funded by the federal government and was open for just eight months at a cost of $580 million (pictured, front of the Mickleham Centre)
A small number of employees will work to properly shut down the facility until it is returned to the federal government.
Breakfast radio host on Sydney’s 2GB Ben Fordham criticized the closure as a ‘waste of money’.
“I’ll tell you what, we blew some money during Covid, but this is really next level,” he wrote on Facebook.
‘Why on earth would we open coronavirus hubs two years into a pandemic?
‘They MIGHT have been practical back in 2020. Not now.’
The closure has sparked widespread outrage online, with several people wondering why the facility can’t be used as social housing or emergency housing instead of standing empty.
Aussie TikToker Beccy Jane also labeled the center ‘an absolute f***ing waste of money’.
The news comes just months after the Queensland State Government announced the closure of its $200 million state-funded Wellcamp facility (above) after halting construction on a $400 million federally funded quarantine center at Pinkenba in Brisbane’s inner east.
“So instead of just closing it down, why not make welcoming housing for the homeless that are on the street because they can’t afford to pay the fucking rent at the moment because the interest rates are so high,” she said .
‘I don’t know, it makes sense to me. do not?’
It comes just a few months after the Queensland government announced it would shell out two multi-million dollar quarantine centres.
In July it was announced the Queensland Government did not want construction to begin on the Federal Government’s planned $400 million Pinkenba Center for National Resilience because it was ‘no longer required’.
The hundreds of millions spent on the half-built facility were funded by Australian taxpayers.
The Melbourne center has been the only federally funded hub to actually open, meaning taxpayers nationwide have spent a total of $1.3 billion to quarantine 2,168 people.
The Morrison government announced the construction of three purpose-built quarantine centers in 2021, eventually costing Australian taxpayers a total of $1.3 billion to quarantine 2,168 people (pictured, Scott Morrison)
The federally funded quarantine facility in Bullsbrook, Western Australia is not yet open and construction will not be completed until August 2022 (pictured, a model room inside the WA Quarantine Centre)
The Queensland state government announced the closure in July of its $200 million facility at Wellcamp near Toowoomba, funded by Queensland taxpayers, after it had been open for just five months.
Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines defended the construction of the soon-to-be-closed Melbourne quarantine centre, saying it could be used for emergencies in the future.
‘The Victorian Quarantine Hub has served its purpose in keeping Victorians safe from Covid-19. Its closure is another step in our recovery from the pandemic, he said.
‘Australia needed these facilities before the pandemic first hit, but this important facility now exists as insurance in the event of a future pandemic, or to provide accommodation in emergency situations such as natural disasters.’
The Morrison government controversially announced the construction of three federal government-funded quarantine centers in late 2021.
Many Australians criticized the move, noting the pandemic was already largely over and quarantine rules were likely to change once the centers opened.