The Queensland government has conceded it did not consult with some health care providers about the granting of a key COVID-19 quarantine contract before deciding not to go to tender.
A government spokesman told 7.30 that the contract for the Wellcamp quarantine facility near Toowoomba would have been too difficult for some providers.
"Private health providers … were considered but excluded on the basis that they would be required to manage the delivery of increased referral volumes … at the peak of the current Omicron surge," the spokesperson said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament that a health services contract for the private COVID-19 quarantine facility at Wellcamp near Toowoomba was awarded to Aspen Medical without going to tender because no-one else could do the job.
But the managing director of Medical Rescue, Glenn MacKay, disputes this.
"As a Queensland-based company, we were very disappointed not to have been included in the consultation process," he told 7.30.
Dr MacKay says he contacted Queensland Health on August 26, 2021, the same day the state government announced it was going ahead with the Wellcamp development.
Dr MacKay says he sent an email to the department point of contact asking how his company "could be part of the discussion for assisting to run the Wellcamp facility" and whether the department was "able to provide an introduction to the team who are working on this".
"But sadly [we] did not hear back," he said.
'We would have been interested'
A director of Covax Australia, Anuj Gupta, also confirmed his company had also been left in the dark.
"We were not contacted: we would have been interested," he said.
The Palaszczuk government has been dogged by integrity issues over the past two months, with the LNP opposition questioning the influence of a Labor-linked lobbying firm, Anacta.
The Premier has denied the decision to grant the contract to Aspen Medical was in any way linked to the fact it is an Anacta client.
"The decision to outsource medical service delivery was made after consultation with both hospital and health services and other potential providers revealed that capacity could not be scaled up in time to operationalise the Wellcamp facility," Ms Palaszczuk told state parliament on February 24.
Anacta director David Nelson supported the Premier's assertion.
"Anacta Strategies has not made any representations on behalf of Aspen relating to the Wellcamp project, nor was it mentioned in any of our introductory meetings with government and Aspen," he said in a statement.
"All of our contacts with the government, whether telephone call, email or meeting, have been disclosed in accordance with the law."
Contract consultation began in December
Wellcamp quarantine facility, known officially as the Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre, was developed by the Wagner Corporation, which first put the proposal to the Queensland government in January last year.
The Queensland government announced it was going ahead with the Wellcamp development in late August 2021 and a government spokesman said consultation over the health services contract started in December.
"Queensland Health has ongoing relationships with many private healthcare providers and consultation on partnering to provide healthcare services to Queenslanders occurs regularly," the spokesperson told 7.30.
A spokesperson for Aspen Medical also told 7.30 that the company has been operating in Queensland since 2005 and is committed to creating jobs and investing in the state.
"Neither Aspen Medical nor any entities associated with us made representations to the Queensland government in relation to the Wellcamp facility," the spokesman said.
"We were contacted in December 2021 around the provision of health services at the facility."
Missed opportunity for Queensland companies
Dr MacKay said he was disappointed the Queensland government had chosen a Canberra-based company to run the COVID-19 quarantine centre.
"If the Queensland government was to contract Queensland companies, it would enable us to also further assist during disasters," he said in a written statement.
"We have been busy volunteering time and resources to assist with flood relief.
"These large contracts awarded in this way do not build Queensland's resilience, which would have been discussed if we were part of the consultation process."
The Queensland Auditor-General has asked the state government for more information about the Wellcamp project, following a request for an audit by the LNP's finance spokesman, Jarrod Bleijie.
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