Prime Minister Scott Morrison has slammed false claims the government is seizing rapid antigen tests, calling them “completely untrue”.
Multiple suppliers of RATs have accused the federal government of seizing their orders for the hard-to-find tests.
After days of trying to put out spot fires over the claims, the Department of Health today confirmed it would be reporting false claims about the requisition of RATs to Australia’s consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Mr Morrison mentioned that move during a media conference in Canberra this afternoon.
“You may be aware of some false claims regarding Commonwealth government requisitioning of rapid antigen tests. I want to stress that these are false claims,” Mr Morrison said.
“These claims are categorically untrue.
“Supplies of rapid antigen tests are not being redirected to the Commonwealth.
“If you’re being told by a supplier that you cannot get those rapid antigen tests because the Commonwealth government has redirected them, that is not true. Get them to tell you the truth.”
Asked whether Commonwealth orders for RATs were getting priority access, the Prime Minister said that was not the case.
“We’re not redirecting supplies to Commonwealth orders. And we have not put in place any arrangements to do that,” he said.
“We deal with the suppliers directly, as do the state and territory governments, and enter into commercial arrangements with them. We are not nationalising the means of...
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