Government spending $75k a month to store expired RATs set to be burnt, converted to energy, in $4m disposal

Western Australia’s almost 20 million strong stockpile of expired rapid antigen tests is set to be destroyed before the end of the year, costing taxpayers $4 million. Appearing before Parliamentary estimates on Thursday, Health officials revealed the tests — once crucial to stemming the tide of Covid in WA — would be burnt and converted into energy through a Kwinana-based plant run by company Perth Chemical Specialists. But before the tests are destroyed en masse, taxpayers will foot a $75,000 a month bill to store them in a warehouse. Under questioning from Nationals MP Martin Aldridge, Health Support Services chief executive Robert Toms revealed that after purchasing 110 million RATs during the pandemic, handed out free to West Australians, the Government has been left with at least 19 million, now expired. Government minister Sue Ellery defended the purchase of the tests, saying they saved lives. “They kept our economy strong. It was a very good investment by the West Australian Government,” Ms Ellery said. “We could not predict exactly how many we would need when we started purchasing them. “Indeed, we knew that we were competing not just with other jurisdictions in Australia, but we were competing with the world to get hold of RATs to keep people safe and our economy strong. “In the end, when you weigh up the cost-benefit analysis on the investment made by the State Government in RATs. My answer to your question is, yes, it was a good use of taxpayers’ money.” Mr Aldridge asked whether the cost of destroying the tests was appropriate, given that most used RATs had been disposed of through standard waste streams. “These rats are now waste. They can’t save lives like you have suggested they did. They can’t save lives anymore because we’re spending $75,000 a month storing them,” he said. “My question is, is it a good use of taxpayers’ money to spend $4 million burning them when most of them have gone into waste streams.” An auditor-general’s report released last year found too many were bought without proper thought, leaving a huge stockpile, wasting many and costing the taxpayer a significant amount. Auditor-General Caroline Spencer said health authorities initially intended to spend $3 million on the kits for health workers and returning travellers, but the total ballooned to about $440 million. The Department of Finance then spent about $140 million on RATs for distribution to the WA community, bringing the total bill for 110 million RATs to almost $600 million. “I acknowledge the uncertainty that the pandemic created and that many public servants, particularly in health support services, worked extremely hard over an extended period to implement directives,” Ms Spencer said. “However, I have never before witnessed such escalation in the cost of a program over such a short timeframe, occurring with a lack of due consideration of the impacts or without a record of anyone pausing to ask what level of procurement was sufficient and whether this had been achieved.” While recognising the significant global pressures on obtaining the tests, Ms Spencer said more procurement controls had needed to be put in place. “But there needs to be a point where we take a step back and assess if the ongoing decisions being made are sound, in the public interest and represent value for money,” she said. “And if they are indeed necessary in the circumstances. “There was no methodology behind what was considered enough tests, and therefore, the situation now is that the State has arguably purchased too many tests, at great public cost.”