Scott Morrison’s announcement that he is not considering making rapid antigen tests (RAT) free while at the same time undercutting PCR testing for people who are not close contacts, is causing even more backlash.
The Prime Minister argued that making RATs for COVID-19 widely available and free would create issues for retailers even though the country is grappling with RAT scarcity and overwhelmed testing clinics. Whether or not testis will be made free or discounted for concession holders will be discussed on Wednesday by the government.
At the same time, 84 million rapid tests have been ordered by state governments, partly funded by the Commonwealth which will not be available until the end of January in the best case scenario.
“We’ve invested hundreds of billions of dollars getting Australia through this crisis,” Mr Morrison said earlier today, adding that “We’re now at a stage of the pandemic where you can’t just make everything free, because when someone tells you they want to make something free, someone’s always going to pay for it and it will be you.”
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese Labor lashed at the government’s approach to testing as cases of COVID-19 across the country explode and hospitalisations rise. On that note, pharmacies have been marking up the cost of RATs which has increased by 20 per cent.
“With months and months to prepare, from a pandemic that has been going for two years, it is unbelievable the government has told people to not go and get tested, but to test themselves with a rapid antigen test that isn’t available, and isn’t affordable,” said.
“This is a public policy failure the like of which we haven’t seen in this country before. They shouldn’t be priced out of people being able to get them … people who can’t afford them should be given them. That’s the truth of the matter,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Morrison swiftly pushed back stressing that the opposition always finds reasons to complain.
“By making that policy very, very clear, then that means the private market, whether it’s in the big warehouse pharmacies or the other pharmacies or the supermarkets, they can now go and stock their shelves with confidence that they won’t be undercut by the government,” the Prime Minister said.
When asked about the potential of imposing another lockdown Mr Morrison assured that “We’ve really got to change the way we think about it and that’s why talking about case numbers now is really not the point,”.
“The issue is how we’re managing the impacts on the health system and that’s why ensuring we have sensible rules that allow people to go back to work – and that’s exactly what we’re doing – to ensure we can get on with it.”
