2000 quarantining travellers could be housed at hubs based at Avalon Airport. Photo / File
2000 quarantining travellers could be housed at hubs based at Avalon Airport. Photo / File
Pressure is mounting on state and federal governments to relinquish hotel quarantine to dedicated regional hubs, with two Australian billionaire businessmen leading the charge.
Weeks after John Wagner was approached by the Queensland government, a bold new plan to house returning travellers has emerged out of Melbourne's second international airport, owned by Lindsay Fox's company Linfox.
If the proposals are successful, at least 2000 Australians could be housed at hubs based at Avalon Airport, 50 minutes southwest of Melbourne, and at Wellcamp Airport in Toowoomba, 90 minutes from Brisbane.
In a set-up similar to Howard Springs in Darwin, there would be no communal corridors and individual airconditioning systems, minimising the risk of contamination.
The aim would be to limit COVID-19 escaping into the community, which has sparked lockdowns in Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.
Avalon Airport CEO Justin Giddings told NCA NewsWire passengers would disembark at Avalon, be processed through immigration and walk 500 metres directly into a quarantine facility, "allowing minimal contact with anybody".
"The facility would consist of a number of cabins, all of which would have an outside area."
The aim would be to provide a much more liveable environment than a hotel room, he said.
A quarantined traveller is transported to the Pullman Albert Park, Melbourne. Photo / News Corp
"Interactions between workers and residents could meet in an outdoor environment … Each cabin would be fully self-contained. Workers would have no need to enter the cabin except to provide a deep clean at the end."
Mr Giddings said workers would also be housed in the same facility.
"Avalon is viewing this as an opportunity to help the Victorian community recover more quickly," he said.
He said so far there had only been informal discussions, but he was hopeful a formal sit-down with the Andrews government and Department of Health would happen soon.
"We'll work with the government … both federal and state," Mr Giddings said.
"We can build it and lease it back in some way … We can do that in a couple of months.
"I would imagine we would stage it over time. We can build it up to be quite large within a number of months."
Victoria Premier Dan Andrews told reporters on Tuesday the government was "actively pursuing and examining the construction" of a purpose-built quarantine centre.
Lindsay Fox, left of Linfox, has proposed housing travellers at Melbourne's second airport. Photo / Andrew Labett
"This will be based in large part on the Howard Springs model... A delegation of senior officials will go to the Northern Territory as soon as practicable to see first hand how that facility is set up," he said.
"We've got two obvious candidates – Avalon Airport, where there's space and an international terminal, and of course Melbourne Airport as well.
"I'm grateful to them for their partnership ... We are going to get on and build a facility."
It comes after the Wagner Corporation put forward a proposal to the Queensland government to develop a quarantine facility at Wellcamp Airport in Toowoomba.
In a post on social media, John Wagner said his company had been asked by the Palaszczuk government to submit a proposal about using the airport as an international arrivals port and to set up an accommodation facility.
"We put forward a proposal for their consideration to house 1000 repatriated Australians along with 300 staff working on site," he wrote.
"This proposal is currently being considered by both the state and federal governments to see if it is financially viable. Wagners are not asking any level of government for any financial assistance whatsoever.
"If it is deemed financially viable, then it will proceed to the next step whereby it will be worked out as to how it will be run and how the project is executed.
