Businesses and workers left high and dry

The Qld Government inexplicably failed to ensure the State had a plentiful supply of ‘Rapid Antigen Test’ kits, despite knowing for months that outbreaks were likely following the opening of borders, and the central role RAT kits would play.

Instead, government was caught short as total chaos reigned with workers, many of them sick, traipsing up and down the State, desperately searching for the elusive kits.

Business owners say they are furious that their much anticipated ‘road to recovery’ moment was ruined again by Labor’s incompetence.

Many, particularly in the South East, were left without enough staff, some even forced to close, at the worst possible time of the year.

I can only imagine their outrage on discovering that the whole time, a Qld company was happily churning out hundreds of thousands of the kits each day at its factory in Brisbane, then sending overseas to their customer, the US military.

Not a single one was made available to Queenslanders!

What makes this truly reprehensible however is that in 2020, the Government gave the company, called Ellume, an “undisclosed sum” of public monies – rumoured to be in the millions – supposedly to ensure Queenslanders had access to RAT kits as part of the Government’s $50 million dollar “Essential Goods and Supply Chain program”.

Instead, Ellume subsequently entered into a $302 million contract with the US Government, who asked them to ramp up production to 200,000 kits a day to meet their needs.

CEO, Sean Parsons, told Bloomberg last month that the company hadn’t bothered to seek authorisation from the TGA but planned to do so “in the New Year”.

“Our focus right now is on the US only” Dr Parsons said.

Ellume is not the only Brisbane-based company manufacturing RAT kits for an overseas market, who was given Qld taxpayer funds.

AnteoTech, was given $1.4 million in 2021 by the Qld Government, as well as a $2 million refund under the Federal Research and Development Tax Incentive Scheme.

The company currently manufactures RAT kits at its factory in Spain, destined for European markets.

It recently applied for TGA for authorisation, saying it will try and divert some of the kits to Australia once the approval issues.

Having failed to secure a domestic supply of RAT kits, the Qld Government has now put up a Tender asking for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from companies “to supply Queensland with Rapid Antigen Tests”.

Better late than never I guess!

They have also gone ‘cap in hand’ to the Morrison Government pleading for a share of the Commonwealth’s RAT stocks so the State won’t be left short.

I am still mystified, however, why the Queensland Government would hand over millions of dollars to a Brisbane manufacturer of RAT tests, and not even bother to make sure access to those tests was guaranteed for the people of Queensland?