Purpose-built quarantine facilities won't be scrutinised by parliament as the federal government rushes to replace Australia's reliance on repurposed hotels.
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Approvals for the facilities to be built in Western Australia and Queensland have been fast-tracked, with the federal opposition's blessing.
This means a cross-party public works committee won't scrutinise the builds before they happen, as is usual process for such spending.
The Morrison government has cited the urgency of the situation as Queensland temporarily blocks interstate arrivals because its hotel quarantine program is at capacity.
Australia is set to go from one to four dedicated quarantine facilities, but not until part-way through 2022.
In-principle agreement for the 1000-bed WA facility was reached between the state and federal governments earlier this month.
It's expected to be operating at half-capacity by March.
Another 1000-bed facility near Brisbane's airport is earmarked for completion by the middle of next year.
Federal minister Stuart Robert on Wednesday proposed a motion to expedite the projects, citing the urgency of the situation.
He also suggested Queensland use hotels on the Gold Coast for quarantine if others were full.
Labor supported fast-tracking the purpose-built facilities.
But federal leader Anthony Albanese criticised the government for continuing to rely on hotel quarantine systems that had resulted in at least 27 breaches.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the state and territory arrangements had been "highly effective".
He said it was unrealistic to expect any quarantine system to be 100 per cent effective.
Another purpose-built facility is expected to have half of its 1000 beds ready in Victoria by the year's end. It also skipped committee consideration.
The only existing purpose-built quarantine centre is at Howard Springs near Darwin, which has a 2000-person capacity.
Australian Associated Press
