Coalition takes a jab or two at Kevin Rudd’s cheek

Just how helpful was Kevin Rudd when the former PM single-handedly intervened to secure much-needed doses of Pfizer vaccine for the nation?

Suggestions Kevin Rudd had anything to do with helping secure Pfizer vaccines were quickly shot down. Picture: Patrick Woods.

As always, Kevin Rudd was here to help.

And, according to the ABC , the former PM single-handedly intervened, at the behest of mysterious, we-know-who-they-are-but-we-aren’t-telling-you “senior business figures”, to secure much-needed doses of the in-demand Pfizer vaccine to save our faltering national Covid-19 response.

Mr Rudd, as magnamious as always, graciously informed the actual PM, Scott Morrison, of his plans to talk to the Pfizer boss, and then helpfully put it all down in writing how helpful he was, before the letter somehow ended up in the hands of the ABC’s star political correspondent, and noted Morrison critic, Laura Tingle.

But as #thankskevin bounced around the Internet on Monday, and a grateful nation took hold of the heroics, a different tale was playing out behind closed doors.

Just how helpful had Mr Rudd actually been?

According to Mr Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt – both facing increasing scrutiny over how hard they had lobbied Pfizer executives for crucial vaccine supplies – it was no help at all.

John Spooner take on Kevin Rudd’s gracious intervention.

Mr Rudd’s account of his Zoom call with Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla carried much more hope. “In response to my representations, Dr Bourla said he would personally look at ‘what further might be able to be done’. I thanked Dr Bourla for that,” Mr Rudd wrote less than a fortnight before the federal government announced Pfizer would deliver one million doses a week from July 19.

Suggestions the well-connected sometime New Yorker had anything to do with helping secure Pfizer vaccines were quickly shot down by Mr Morrison and Mr Hunt – and appeared to be kiboshed by the company itself.

“Recent media reports suggesting that any third party or individual has had any role in contractual agreements reached between Pfizer and the Australian government are inaccurate,” the company said in a statement. “The only two parties involved in these agreements are Pfizer and the Australian government.”

“Look, I did chuckle when I saw the story,” said Mr Hunt.

“We received the letter after we’d done the work with Pfizer and we knew the outcome was likely to be exactly as it was of moving to the million a week. But we appreciate all of the, the help, even if it hasn’t added to the outcome.”

 

That didn’t stop fans of Mr Rudd, a former foreign minister used to serious networking as the president of his own think tank, the Asia Society, piling on the praise.

“Thank you … for speaking to the chairman of Pfizer to secure an earlier delivery of vaccines,” Malcolm Turnbull, another former PM, wrote on social media.

And Labor was not about to let the opportunity go to waste.

“Seems like Kevin Rudd and Australian business people in New York had to get those extra Pfizer doses,” Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek told Sunrise.

Still, all of that may have been news to Mr Rudd himself.

On Monday, his spokesman said Mr Rudd had been clear in his letter that he was speaking to Dr Bourla only “in a personal ¬capacity as a concerned private citizen”.

“Mr Rudd’s letter is entirely consistent with public statements by Pfizer,” he said.

“Mr Rudd has not claimed responsibility for decisions by ¬Pfizer.

“Mr Rudd would definitely not seek to associate himself with the (government)’s comprehensively botched vaccine procurement program.”

The back-and-forth did reveal one key detail. Neither Mr Morrison nor Mr Hunt appeared to have directly lobbied Dr Bourla for more of the crucial vaccine.

Mr Morrison conceded he had not spoken to the chairman, instead choosing the boss of the local arm, “which is where the contract is”.