Canberra says no to Chinese masks

PROTECTIVE medical masks sourced from China were offered to the Federal Government at inflated prices and knocked back.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told Fairfax newspapers that private companies had sought to sell medical supplies to the Government – in one case paying for 90 tonnes to come from Wuhan.

He said the Government had rejected one-off deals at inflated prices. “What we offered and were able to secure was longer-term contracts for volume and time, not one-off inflated purchases,” he said.