Australia 'exposed' to global medical supply shortage, warns finance minister

Australia's Finance Minister Mathias Cormann on Wednesday warned that the nation's medical stockpile has been "somewhat exposed" to international shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cormann urged the government to reconsider its approach to stockpiling medical supplies in order to be better prepared for future crises, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Some of the personal protective equipment, when there is a global competition and strong global demand for access to these products, then obviously we were somewhat exposed," he said.

Health authorities earlier in April urged regular Australians not to wear face masks, citing concerns about the short supply of masks in the health care system.

Cormann was speaking ahead of Parliament re-convening for a single day today to vote on legislation for the government's 130 billion Australian dollars ($79.7 billion) wage subsidy scheme.

Addressing the Parliament before the debate began, Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised his countrymen for successfully slowing the rate of COVID-19 infection but said that the nation still has a long way to go in fighting the virus.

"Through the actions, we have taken to date, we have bought valuable time, to chart a way out over the next six months. But there are no guarantees, and it could well take far longer," he said.