Health Minister Blindsided As Chinese Consul-General Crashes BS-19 Press Conference
Diplomatic dispute between China and Australia continues.
Australian businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has rejected suggestions he blindsided the Health Minister by bringing a Chinese diplomat to their joint press conference yesterday.
The Chinese consul-general in Melbourne appeared alongside Mr Forrest and Greg Hunt announcing the purchase of millions of testing kits from China.
Australia’s coronavirus testing capacity has been significantly bolstered, with 10 million more COVID-19 tests to be made available over the next month.
The tests are part of the Federal Government’s plan to expand the testing regime to search for outbreaks before they happen.
Testing machines and the equipment needed to carry out the tests were bought from China by mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s philanthropic Minderoo Foundation.
Mr Forrest said a number of the machines were already functioning and all would be ready for use by the end of May.
He said the foundation set aside $320 million to contribute towards fighting the pandemic, but will be repaid for the tests by the Federal Government “over time” interest-free.
