Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has clarified Labor's pledge to provide free rapid tests to all Australians if elected this year, saying people will get access to a "limited" number through Medicare.
Mr Albanese has repeatedly laid blame with the federal government for widespread shortages of the rapid tests, accusing the Coalition of failing to adequately prepare last year ahead of a massive surge in Omicron cases.
Earlier this month, the government announced eligible concession card holders, including pensioners and low-income earners, would be able to pick up a capped number of free RATs at some participating pharmacies.
Speaking on the ABC's Insiders program, Mr Albanese said a Labor government would expand access to all Australians.
"This is not a radical proposition," he said.
"They should be available through the Medicare schedule, you would have a limit, as there is, the government has put a limit on concession card holders.
He did not specify how many free tests Australians would be able to claim nor did he specify how much the policy would cost but said Labor would "have all of our policies going forward fully costed".
Under the existing government scheme, concession card holders can get up to 10 free RATs over a three-month period, with a maximum of five in a month.
Shadow Health Ministers Mark Butler said it was logical to apply a "numerical limit" on the number of free RATs individuals could get, saying the figure would be determined by expert advice.
However, he acknowledged that Labor would rather the matter not drag on for months.
"This is not something we should be debating in May in an election campaign, this is something the government should act on now."
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham claimed Labor's plan could cost more than $13 billion.
"It's a thought bubble that Mr Albanese has come up with and Australians deserve detailed focused policies such as what the government is doing," Mr Birmingham said.
"What we're doing is making sure that rapid antigen tests are available to those who need the most and are freely available where they are needed most.
"Mr Albanese can't or won't say how much his rapid antigen test policy would cost, how many kits people would get, where they'd get them from, and it sounds like a great big hoax and it's a policy that's falling apart at the seams."
Labor says Australia needs to be 'more self-reliant'
Meanwhile, Mr Albanese has also pledged to improve Australia's sovereign capacity to manufacture medical supplies like RATs, masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) if Labor wins the looming election.
"One of the lessons of this pandemic is we need to be more self-reliant and one of the things we will do through the National Reconstruction Fund is support for Australian-made manufacturing," he said.
If elected, Labor has pledged to give top priority to Australian-made medical equipment for government purchases and the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, which Labor has promised to set up, would be asked to prioritise investment in medical technology.
Mr Albanese said the government has been too dependent on the market and overseas producers leading to shortages of essential items.
"During this pandemic, we haven't had enough PPE equipment, we haven't had enough ventilators, we haven't been able to produce and use here rapid antigen tests, we are still not producing mRNA vaccines even though the Industry Minister two ago said that it would be produced in the next nine to 12 months and that was 18 months ago," he said.
