Questions have been raised over the due diligence applied to PPE contracts in the early days of the pandemic that cost the Australian taxpayer $100m and delivered little of use.Questions have been raised over the due diligence applied to PPE contracts in the early days of the pandemic that cost the Australian taxpayer $100m and delivered little of use.Frontline medical staff, they warned, were being placed in significant danger by the lack of quality personal protective equipment.
“These measures will help to build trust, allay fears and enable frontline workers to adapt our way of working to manage risk.” The contracts transformed ABM from a relatively obscure online retailer to a vast importer of medical equipment. The revelations raise new questions about the extent of due diligence applied to Australia’s pandemic-era deals for PPE, medical devices and testing equipment.The Guardian understands that on 18 July this year a document was handed to Australian Taxation Office officials by lawyers representing a whistleblower.Documents seen by the Guardian show that ABM entered into a contract to buy the masks and gowns from two Cyprus-based companies controlled by twins Ricky and Evan Neumann for $91m.
“All transactions have been properly and professionally documented regardless of their location, in full compliance with local jurisdictions.” It is not the first time Reuben’s businesses have attracted controversy. His company ABM is behind an online retail business, bdirect.com.au, that has received a string of past complaints online about the quality of its products and business practices.of faulty products, exorbitant fees and poor customer service on the website’s usual offerings: air fryers, bedding and robot vacuum cleaners.
A spokesperson for Hunt said the minister’s office referred all offers of PPE or other assistance, including those put to him by Labor MPs, to the health department and then had no involvement in any further assessment or buying decisions.That included ABM’s offer to secure 50m masks and 4m gowns, which Hunt’s spokesperson said was “to the best of our advice … not drawn to the minister’s attention and was referred by the office as part of the standard referrals process for all correspondence”.