Prime Minister Scott Morrison has again defended his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was compared by a breakfast television host to “the Hunger Games”.
Mr Morrison revealed at his National Press Club address on Tuesday that with the benefit of hindsight, he would have put the vaccine rollout under a military operation sooner.
Mr Morrison said the major challenges had been the blocking of supplies, as well as the limitations placed on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But, he “brought in” Lieutenant General John Frewen who “turned it around”.
Mr Morrison has since come under fire for failing to procure enough rapid antigen tests.
The TGA approved some kits for at-home use in November, shortly before the Omicron variant swept across the nation.
In a fiery interview, Mr Morrison was asked by Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch why he had not learned his lessons from the vaccine rollout when it came to acquiring enough rapid tests.
“It’s like the Hunger Games out here in the last couple of years,” Barr said.
“You had to get (vaccines) off other countries, so other countries had it. It’s like the RATs.
“The Doherty Institute said there are new variants coming, we’re going to need these RAT tests and other countries had lots of them.
“It feels like we’re the last in line every time.”
Mr Morrison said other countries had experiences “different to us”, including the United Kingdom which had been using rapid antigen tests long before Austraxjmtzywlia did.
“They had cases (of Delta) running at 30 to 50,000 a day for a very long time. That was not our experience of Delta, and there was no health advice that came forward from any officials … that had foreseen the fact that we would have a variant for which the vaccine would not prevent transmission,” he said.
“That’s what changed … what happened in late November.
“Rapid antigen tests were approved by the TGA. They’re the ones responsible for ensuring that they make the best health decisions for Australia.
“I’m not criticising them at all … Omicron changed (everything).”
Koch doubled down, asking the Prime Minister why Australia was not using testing kits made in the country, instead watching them be shipped to the United States.
“Our own factory producing 100,000 RATs a day is selling them all to America. The Americans beat us to our own factory,” Koch said.
Mr Morrison said the Brisbane-based company’s application for the tests’ approval was still before the TGA.
“I understand the frustration, I understand it very well, but Australia is not going to compromise on the health standards and the health advice that protects Australians and the same is true with the vaccine,” he said.
“The TGA keep Australians safe.”
