[thorn bird]

Some thoughts.

The vast majority of the (RAT) rapid antigen test kits we now use are bought from China and allegedly are inferior to those manufactured elsewhere. Which begs the question why are we buying anything from China? considering their attitude to Australia.
Australian companies developed the Rapid Antigen test last year. One may wonder if the Chinese, like so many other innovations, stole their technology.
My take on what happened is the Guvmint, no doubt with "Advice" from the "experts" (Vested Interest) decided that RAT's were not a great idea the PCR test was gold standard and the Pathology labs no doubt lobbied to protect the huge profits from administering them. I can almost hear the "Appelby" whisper in the ministers ear "Minister we cannot have people running around testing themselves, thats for doctors. The AMA will go ballistic, think of the bad press. If anything goes wrong the blood will be on your hands".

So no market for RAT developed in Australia.

Australian companies then looked elsewhere for a market and found it in Europe and the US, moved their manufacturing processes overseas and got on with it.

Omicon suddenly arrived on scene, just when Australia was opening up and quickly overcame our ability to process PCR tests to detect it and suddenly RAT's became a good idea. Trouble was we had no production in Australia and the approvals required from the relevant authority advanced at the usual snails pace for any Australian bureaucracy. CAsA is a prime example of this phenomenon sometimes taking years to process simple permissions, luckily for them airlines pretty much administer themselves as they are too big, politically powerful, and financially able to legally challenge any interference they disapprove of. If its worth a fight they will, which is why CAsA leave them alone, anything not worth a fight can simply be absorbed in the price of a ticket. That just leaves the bottom end, General Aviation for CAsA to focus its attention without fear of political scrutiny, GA is simply not big enough to mobilise many votes.

As Omicon runs rampant through the community supply chains came under threat from lack of staff through infection or close contact isolation, spreading to already overworked health workers. Suddenly the bureaucrats were in the spotlight, RAT's became the imperative and had to be sourced from somewhere.

In steps China, but its passing strange they had no problem gaining approval for their product, but an Australian company on the other hand is put through the wringer.