There were concerns at the time of its announcement in August last year that the Federal Government’s quarantine facility at Bullsbrook would be redundant once it was completed.

The $400 million, 500-bed facility, widely endorsed by the McGowan government at the time, is now finished and has been given the title of Centre for National Resilience.

WA Liberal Leader David Honey told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings part of the deal meant WA had to shoulder the running costs, with Serco given the annual $13 million contract, which equates to $35,000 a day.

“I guess one part of it is, there will be pandemics in the future … but there are a couple of opportunities. One of the big issues we have in WA and Perth in particular is the issue of homeless people,” he told Bartlett.

“If you were going to do that, you’d have wraparound services there.

“Crikey, leaving them sleeping under bridges and in the doorways of the city buildings in Perth and the suburbs, I think is inhumane.

“The other opportunity is … we’ve got a critical housing shortage, so if you want to get workers into the state, there’s nowhere for them to stay, so there is an opportunity at least until people could find a permanent place to live.”