From COVID to cops? Fate of abandoned quarantine site ‘sad and absurd’

In 2023, Scanlon announced a $10 million investment to convert the empty 500-bed facility into crisis accommodation.

“We have been trying to work with the federal government since last year, putting money on the table and meeting all their requests, including to provide a proposal for the Pinkenba site,” Scanlon said.

“It’s disappointing given the time and work we put in, but ultimately, we’ve always said this was a federal government decision.”

Scanlon said the $10 million initially offered for Pinkenba would be redirected by the department to provide other means of housing support.

But repurposing the federally owned and operated Pinkenba site for housing or crisis accommodation was never a straightforward proposal.

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Asked in March last year about Pinkenba’s future use for crisis accommodation, Gallagher’s office said it was “too far from the additional necessary support services for [family violence or homelessness] accommodation and therefore not considered suitable”.

Community service groups echoed these concerns and added their own, including the facility’s design (the beds are in units without kitchens or laundries), space, costs and distance from allied health services and transport infrastructure.

Micah Projects chief executive Karyn Walsh told reporters last year: “Pinkenba is not the magic solution to homelessness.

“It is not as simple as ‘everyone on the streets, go to Pinkenba’.

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“People cannot stay there for long periods of time. It is not set up for that.

“It is certainly not a suitable site for people you see in the inner city living in tents … [many of which] need a high level of care.

“When it was built, it was built for a specific purpose, and that was quarantine.”

Premier Steven Miles shared a similar sentiment in a statement on Friday.

“We didn’t think this was a good site for a quarantine facility and, for some of the same reasons, it’s not an ideal site for housing facility.

“We were eager to work with the Australian government and the NGOs to identify a solution, but at the end of the day, this is the Australian government’s facility and how they use it has to be theirs.”