Revealed: How Brisbane City Council SCRAPPED a $50,000 PPE donation to China after coronavirus spread around the world
- The city council planned to send $50,000 worth of PPE to China in February
- 150,000 items were to be shipped to sister cities Shenzhen and Chongqing
- Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced plans saying 'it is the right thing to do'
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Brisbane City Council was gearing up to send $50,000 worth of personal protective equipment to two Chinese cities before state and federal authorities called off the plan.
The scrapped move was part of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner's initiative to send aid to Brisbane's sister cities, Shenzhen and Chongqing, in February, at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
At the time, China was experiencing the worst of the pandemic, while Australia only had a handful of cases.
Brisbane City Council planned to send hundreds of thousands of PPE items including hair nets, safety googles and latex gloves to its Chinese sister cities in February (stock image)
A city council press release revealed plans to invest money to help provide 'critical medical supplies abroad' and put money back into local business, the Brisbane Times reported.
'l want to act as quickly as possible on this and about 150,000 individual medical items will be leaving Brisbane for China this month', Mayor Schrinner said.
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'Coronavirus is a challenge, but it's a temporary one and helping our Chinese sister cities in their time of need is the right thing to do.'
Mayor Schrinner was keen to help out the two cities as they had provided aid to Brisbane after the 2011 floods, and promised to send over hair nets, safety googles and latex gloves to China by the end of the month.
Australia suffered a shortage of essential PPE items when the coronavirus pandemic in the country reached it peak
Plans to ship the supplies were ultimately scrapped and the items were never purchased.
A spokesman told the publication the council chose not go forward with the plan after receiving advice from federal and state governments.
Australia had 14 cases of coronavirus in late January, two of those were from two men who had flown in to Sydney from Shenzhen.
In March, reports revealed Chinese organisations operating in Australia had reportedly sent back bulk medical supplies to China during the crisis.
Australia would later be hit with a shortage of essential PPE items when the country was in the grips of the pandemic.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner (pictured) planned to send aid to Brisbane's sister cities, Shenzhen and Chongqing, at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in February
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