House debates

Monday, 23 March 2020

Questions without Notice

Coronavirus

2:26 pm

Photo of Greg HuntGreg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Prime Minister. I acknowledge the history and service of the member for Macarthur. To date, more than 3.1 million masks have been deployed from the National Medical Stockpile. This includes to primary health networks, general practices, community pharmacies, Aboriginal community controlled health organisations and state health authorities. Additional distributions are planned this week. We have had significant supplies arrive over the weekend, and we have over 300 million masks on order.

I do want to be honest: there has been some practice at some borders where some countries or individuals have diverted some of those supplies at the last minute. It is a difficult world out there, and we're doing everything we can to make sure that those masks that are ordered are arriving. Those orders are very significant, and they are being distributed as they arrive. We do have supplies which are being shared out with dentists and others. The supplies are being managed very carefully by the National Medical Stockpile. They are triaging and prioritising. Again I thank the health workers. One of the significant things we're doing is the extraordinary domestic production, which is now being ramped up. I will refer to the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

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