The first glimpse of what the 1,000-bed quarantine facility at Wellcamp Airport outside Toowoomba will look like has been revealed.
Two months after building works began, the Queensland government says the facility is on track to have 500 beds operational by the end of December.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles visited the site on Friday morning to witness the first concrete pour.
"The cabins will be craned in, in the next couple of weeks and things will continue to move very quickly here on the site," he said.
Mr Miles said the facility was expected to be completed by the end of March next year.
At this stage, the cabins will be used by domestic travellers returning from COVID hotspots.
The Wagner Corporation's plans, released by the state government, show cabins split into different zones, accommodating singles, doubles, family rooms and options for accessibility.
The plans also show key details such as where the rooms, medical treatment centre and kitchen will be placed.
Security and police offices will also be housed on site.
"We've been engaging closely with local businesses, not just on how they can contribute to the build, but also how they can benefit from the ongoing operations of the accommodation facility," Mr Miles said.
"So we can make sure that as much as possible, the services, the food, the other supplies [are] sourced locally, providing local economic benefits and and local jobs."
Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner said he was pleased with the project's progress.
"It's all going along very well," he said.
"We're well advanced and laying underground surfaces. The building is coming along nicely."
Home quarantine 'won't affect need'
With home quarantine being trialled for a select number of returning Queenslanders next week, Mr Miles defended the need for the state's second quarantine facility.
"You will have heard the very strict criteria about who will qualify [for home quarantine], so there will still continue to be people from hotspots who might need to go into more secure accommodation," he said.
"And people coming from other parts of the world where COVID continues to be rampant, where there might be new strains, where they might not have had access to vaccination.
"We anticipate there to be a continuing need for quarantine facilities."
The state government said it was in discussions with the Commonwealth about allowing passenger flights to land at Wellcamp Airport, outside Toowoomba.
It will initially lease the land from the Wagners for 12 months.
"We [then] have an option to keep it for another 12 months. And then I understand that Wagners have plans about how they might be able to use the facility in an ongoing way," Mr Miles said.
"This precinct is going gangbusters and the whole region needs accommodation for their workforce.
"We hope to see an entertainment precinct here, which could use the accommodation.
"So there is a lot of really valuable ongoing uses for this facility."
Another 1,000-bed quarantine facility is being built in Queensland by the Commonwealth government on a 30-hectare Army barracks site in the industrial area of Pinkenba, near Brisbane Airport.
It is expected to have 500 beds available from March next year.