Greg Hunt, the Minister of Health, gave Aspen Medical a strong recommendation. Despite having no prior expertise with large-scale procurement, Aspen Medical was awarded more than $1 billion in federal PPE contracts.
Greg Hunt is an Australian politician who has served as Health Minister since January 2017.
He is a member of the Liberal Party and has represented the Division of Flinders in Victoria in the House of Representatives since November 2001.
Hunt has been in charge of Australia’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic since March 2020.
Is Aspen Medical Affiliated With Greg Hunt?
Greg Hunt, the Minister of Health, has praised Aspen Medical’s successful parliament-connected aggregate events.
Hunt wrote and signed a glowing letter of commendation for a politically connected healthcare firm while it was in the midst of negotiations with his division for financially rewarding multi-million-dollar PPE offers.
The papers were prepared and signed, but the deadline was set for February 2020.
The first PPE declaration was executed on February 22, 2020, according to Department of Health papers disclosed through the Freedom of Information Act.
Aspen Medical confirmed to Four Corners that Mr. Hunt’s letter had been requested.
“It is written to support Aspen Medical in employment vacancies in the United States and is acceptable for Australian companies assisting in foreign operations,” said a spokeswoman for Hunt.
The minister expressly rejected any involvement in any “recommendations, evaluations, approvals, contract negotiations, or purchase choices” about the company’s PPE contracts.
Aspen Medical Was Given More Than $1billion In Government PPE Contract
Without a public process, Canberra-based Aspen Medical would go on to acquire taxpayer-funded contracts worth more than $1.1 billion.
The company’s pre-tax profits soared to more than $420 million during the epidemic, after losses of $7 million in 2018 and 2019.
Despite the fact that Aspen Medical had no prior experience in large-scale procurement, its PPE contracts with the Department of Health were valued at $500 million more than any other government supplier, including those with industry experience.
Aspen Medical has also been implicated in an international criminal investigation into corruption and money laundering, according to a Four Corners investigation conducted in cooperation with the Sunday Times of Colombo.
Aspen Medical Political Connection
For more than a decade, the company has had close ties with key government officials and the parliamentary Liberal Party.
Dr. Wooldridge is a director of Aspen’s $1.3 billion Indonesia joint venture.
Even after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission banned Dr Wooldridge from being a company director, he continued to attend Aspen Medical board meetings as an adviser.
“We are not aware of, nor do we have any record of, any lobbying by Dr Wooldridge on behalf of Aspen Medical in regard to any procurement,” Mr Hunt’s spokesperson said.
Over the same 12-year period, the corporation has also been a consistent supporter to the Australian Labor Party, donating about $54,000 in donations and other receipts.