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COVID in WA: Housing Minister John Carey defends government’s RAT stockpile

Headshot of Rangi Hirini
Rangi HiriniThe West Australian
WA Minister John Carey has defended the State Government’s almost $600 million-dollar spend on rapid antigen tests.
Camera IconWA Minister John Carey has defended the State Government’s almost $600 million-dollar spend on rapid antigen tests. Credit: Ross Swanborough/The West Australian

WA Minister John Carey has defended the State Government’s almost $600 million-dollar spend on rapid antigen tests, after The West Australian revealed Auditor General Caroline Spencer was investigating the stockpile.

The Labor Housing Minister on Saturday said he doesn’t believe the purchase of 110 million RAT tests was excessive despite recent Opposition criticism.

“We have been world-leading in our response to COVID and having RATs freely available to Western Australians has been a key part of that. We have given out around 48 million RATs and we’re giving out another 21 (million),” he said.

“COVID isn’t over. We still need testing, we still need to isolate. So we would argue it’s part of our world-leading response. It was the right decision.”

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Pictures of Perth MLA John Carey (on behalf of the Culture and the Arts Minister) will welcoming the one millionth visitor to the WA Museum Boola Bardip, in Perth.
Camera IconCredit: Ross Swanborough/The West Australian, Perth MLA John Carey (on behalf of the Culture and the Arts Minister) will welcoming the one millionth visitor to the WA Museum Boola Bardip, in Perth.

Due to their pending expiry dates, millions of tests from the State’s stockpile are expected to be donated overseas or sold to interstate.

On Friday, Nationals MP Martin Aldridge told The West that WA households had reached a RATs “saturation point”, with constituents refusing to take anymore because they were running out of space to store the self-test kits.

“The Government should rethink its strategy about what to do with its remaining supplies as they do have a limited life,” Mr Aldridge said.

“We do not know how individual tests will respond to future variants of concern. We will see in time whether they remain effective or whether we end up dumping them into landfill.

“There may well be other jurisdictions or neighbouring countries that we could play a role in supporting their COVID-19 response using some of the significant stockpiles that we have hoarded in WA, which we are unlikely to use.”

However, Mr Carey said he was still frequently receiving requests from constituents for tests.

On Wednesday, the State Government announced each household in WA will be able to collect a further 20 free RATs.

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