Covid-19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Winston Peters refers saliva testing contract to Auditor-General

Winston Peters has alleged impropriety over the way saliva testing contracts were procured. Photo / Tania Whyte

NZ First leader and former deputy prime minister Winston Peters has written to the Auditor-General asking him to investigate whether the Government acted appropriately when it inked a contract.

Peters alleges impropriety in a $60 million contract with Asia Pacific Health Group (APHG) for saliva testing.

Peters' allegation rests on reports that one of the companies that was passed over for this contract, Rako Science, had Covid saliva testing accreditation qualifications, while APHG did not.

Stuff has reported Rako's test had been diagnostically validated using protocols with emergency use authorisation, while APHG's did not.

"Rako Science, a New Zealand company, obtained validation and accreditation for saliva testing for Covid in December 2020 – three months earlier," Peters said in a Facebook post.

"Rako Science had been validated and accredited months earlier and ready to roll out widespread saliva testing. They have since entered into contracts with private organisations but not the Government," he said.

APHG would not respond directly to Peters' comments.

However a spokeswoman said their saliva test was "robust, it is diagnostically validated, and we've collaborated extensively with diagnostic laboratories across the country, as well as ESR and the Public Health Laboratory Network in Australia, to get here".

"New Zealand can have confidence that our team of clinical microbiologists and many very experienced medical laboratory scientists based here in Aotearoa, and who are at the coal face of this work, know what they are doing.

"We have a large amount of experience in this space and are well aware of what exactly is required to validate high quality diagnostic tests, not just for Covid-19, but for all the other medical testing we provide. We take full professional responsibility for the diagnostic work that we do," the spokeswoman said.

APHG also pushed back against Peters' apparent preference for Rako.

"Rako who are mentioned in Winston Peters' comment, don't have a laboratory, they are not accredited for Covid-19 testing," the spokeswoman said.

APHG had recently been acquired by the NZ Superannuation Fund, which declined to comment for this story, and a Canadian pension fund.

Peters said the issue raised questions about why the Government decided "to support the NZ Super Fund and Canadian pension fund option at the expense of the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders?"

He alleged "APHG's product has not been tested and is yet to make any difference to the Government testing programme."

The Auditor-General is a Parliamentary watchdog who looks after all Government spending to make sure the spending is in line with the law.

Since leaving Parliament, Peters has been a staunch critic of the Covid response, particularly the vaccine rollout.

The Ministry of Health declined to comment.