‘I never claimed’ to have had a role in Pfizer agreement, says Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd says his letter is ‘entirely consistent’ with Pfizer’s statement, as he insists he hasn’t tried to claim responsibility for the company’s contractual decisions.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: Gary Ramage

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says his letter is “entirely consistent” with Pfizer’s public statement, as he hasn’t tried to claim responsibility for contractual decisions made by the company.

Pfizer, Health Minister Greg Hunt and Scott Morrison all moved to pour cold water on reports Mr Rudd helped broker a deal for the country to obtain vaccine supplies early via a Zoom call with Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla.

But Mr Rudd responded to a carefully worded statement from the pharmaceutical company which said he’d played no role in “contractual agreements”, by pointing out his letter had never claimed to have played a part in negotiations.

“Mr Rudd has not claimed responsibility for decisions by Pfizer and – as he made clear to Mr Morrison – all negotiating powers rested with the federal government,” the statement said.

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

Pfizer says reports Mr Rudd played a hand in vaccine negotiations with the company are incorrect, saying there were only two parties involved in the agreement.

In a statement released on Monday, Pfizer said “all agreements and supply arrangements” were exclusively made with the federal government, in which it maintained a “strong relationship”.

“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 statement said.

“The only two parties involved in these agreements are Pfizer and the Australian government. ”

The statement, however, didn’t deny representations had been made by Mr Rudd directly to Pfizer chairman and chief executive Albert Bourla via a Zoom call.

Health Minister Greg Hunt meanwhile admitted the Pfizer chief executive wasn’t lobbied directly, but says he’s “completely” confident Australia received the “best outcome” possible, as he said Mr Rudd had no “material contribution’’.

With reports emerging the Morrison government failed to engage the necessary executive levels at Pfizer, leaving former prime minister Mr Rudd to petition for advanced deliveries, Mr Hunt moved to rubbish the claims, saying the story has been trumped by fact.

“The very foundation of this story is false,” Mr Hunt told a press conference on Monday. “The fact there is no attribution, no verification but then the most basic element of it is false should cause everybody to stop and say clearly it is a little bit of a game here.

“We just got exactly the best outcome that we were seeking on exactly the terms and on exactly the time frame. So I respect that individuals will sometimes take initiatives and we welcome and thank them, but did it make a difference? No.”

Mr Hunt conceded no one in the Morrison government had met with Mr Bourla, but said it hadn’t made any material difference to the country’s ability to procure vaccines.

“We worked through the Australian office. We have dealt with one of the board members previously and the important thing is no earlier doses were available,” he said.

Hunt downplays Rudd discussions

Mr Rudd in a “private capacity” lobbied Mr Bourla to accelerate the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to Australia.

The ABC reported those representations, made in June, came after a senior Australian business figure based overseas raised concerns about the slow delivery of vaccines.

But Mr Hunt has disputed whether Mr Rudd’s discussions had an impact on delivery schedules.

The Australian reported last week that the Morrison government had sealed a deal with the pharmacy giant to bring forward some of the 40 million doses due this year.

In a letter to Scott Morrison sent on June 30, Mr Rudd said he had spoken to Dr Bourla and used the call to ask him “whether there was any possible way, given Pfizer’s current international contractual obligations, to advance the dispatch of significant quantities of the Pfizer vaccine to Australia as early as the third quarter this year”. “In response to my representations, Dr Bourla said he would personally look at ‘what further might be able to be done’,” Mr Rudd wrote in a letter obtained by the ABC.

“I did so not as a representative of the Australian government but purely in my private capacity as an Australian citizen who cares for his country’s wellbeing,” Mr Rudd wrote, adding he had “floated the possibility of Australia perhaps seeking a large-scale advance order of Pfizer’s 2022 vaccine ‘booster’.”

According to the report, Mr Rudd later called Josh Frydenberg to ensure he was aware of the discussion.

The government last week said it had reached an agreement to lift supply of Pfizer vaccines to one million doses a week, three times the weekly average of 300,000 delivered in May and June.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the government had “proactively and continuously engaged directly with Pfizer throughout the Covid-19 vaccine rollout”.

“The minister has met with Pfizer Australia country head Anne Harris on multiple occasions with a view to the announcement Friday on the timeframe achieved and at the level we had hoped for, which was the maximum Pfizer had indicated might be available.

“While we were made aware of Mr Rudd’s approach, we are not aware this approach had any impact on the outcome.”

The government has previously denied separate ABC reports that Pfizer wanted to use Australia as a global example for a rollout of its vaccine. “Both Pfizer and the department would say that those claims in the media are incorrect,” Health Department first assistant secretary in the Covid-19 vaccine task force Lisa Schofield told a parliamentary committee in June.