Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

At no point prior to the onset of omicron had the government—other than the issue of aged care around August last year, when the government then immediately went to procure rapid antigen tests for aged care, which was our responsibility—had any health advisory body, any chief medical officer, any health department or the Prime Minister and Cabinet department or any other department recommended that the government should be engaged in purchasing rapid antigen tests.

In fact, they weren't even approved by the TGA until November last year. And so the suggestion that is put by the Leader of the Opposition, that somehow, they would be recommending that we do something that was contrary to the medical opinion of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, is just a further example of how the leader of the Labor party has sought, all through this pandemic, to play politics with the pandemic for his own political gain.

The government, throughout this pandemic—yes, it is true we—

See this speech in context