The Top End quarantine facility that played a major national role at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic could be used to accommodate thousands of military personnel in Darwin each year.
More than 60,000 people passed through the Howard Springs facility on Darwin's outskirts, including evacuees from Wuhan and returning Australian Olympians, after operations began in early 2020.
But the 3,500-bed facility, which costs $400,000 per month to maintain, has been empty since COVID isolation rules were relaxed earlier this year.
The Defence Department has now confirmed it is in negotiations with the Northern Territory government about leasing the facility.
"Potential future use options for the site have been canvassed during routine discussions between Defence and the Northern Territory Government," a defence spokesperson said.
NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said no final decisions have been made and that the Commonwealth still has priority access should it be needed for a pandemic-related issue over the next six months.
"We did enter with the Commonwealth government into a period of having it on standby for COVID-19 if it was needed," Ms Fyles said on Monday.
"As we've shifted this second half of the year very much to a community-based illness, it's less and less likely that it is needed to be used.
"And so we'll work with the Commonwealth, including Defence, around the longer-term use of that facility."
Arrangement could ease tourism accommodation crunch
Defence's interest in the facility comes after more than 6,500 Australian and international personnel, including US Marines, converged on the Top End for a series of training exercises during the dry season earlier this year.
While many were accommodated on Defence bases, others had to use Darwin's limited supply of hotels during the peak tourism season.
"We don't want to take away from what is presently supported with the private sector," Ms Fyles said.
"But if this could be of benefit to Defence and benefit to our community, particularly tourism, it's something that should be progressed."
Hospitality NT, which represents many of Darwin's hotels, said demand during the dry season is so strong that hotel rooms will be filled by tourists even if military personnel are housed at Howard Springs.
"During the dry season, any large surge in military or government can absolutely impact other tourists," the organisation's CEO Alex Bruce said.
"We don't see it as an either-or [situation], we want to welcome everyone."
The Howard Springs facility was originally built at a cost of $600 million to house fly-in fly-out workers involved in the construction of Japanese company Inpex's gas processing facility in Darwin.
Ongoing maintenance costs at the site cover electricity, sewerage, security, and pest control.
