Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has rejected suggestions that the federal government had requisitioned rapid test kits.

Some retailers have claimed their supplies of at-home testing kits being taken by the Commonwealth government.

He said the story was much the same across the world, with a global shortage of RATs.

“If you were in the United Kingdom, or the United States, or Canada you would find much the same problem at present that if you want to go out and purchase or get kits just to be able to have at home for your convenience for testing because you might want to check before you go out and see other people, you are going to struggle to do so because there is a global shortage of rapid antigen kits,” he told Scott Emerson.

“The world is facing the Omicron variant and we are seeing this huge surge around the world.

“Australia though has held up testing in this country far better than most others.”

He said it was a “luxury for another day” to have rapid antigen kits stockpiled in homes across the country.

“The priorities for governments is to make sure that those tests are available they are needed,” he said.

“I understand people want to see more tests available in the pharmacies and on the supermarket shelves, as more orders come into Australia, as more producers right around the world are scaling up their productions, then we will see that occur.

“But governments, including ours, have been fulfilling their duties there under the shock of Omicron, to make sure those tests are there freely available for free in the circumstances here they are genuinely needed, not in circumstances when they are at risk of being stockpiled or put away in the cupboard shelves in bathrooms across the country, just in case people need them, that’s a luxury for another day.”

But Scott said the Minister was ignoring what Australians are saying.

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