Australia received an assurance from the European Union more than a fortnight ago that health professionals who go to west Africa to join the battle against Ebola would be evacuated to first-rate medical care if they contracted the deadly virus.
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After weeks of inaction, the government on Thursday tasked a private health company, Aspen Medical, with a $20 million contract to staff a British field hospital in Sierra Leone as Australia's contribution to fighting the Ebola outbreak.
More than 350 Australian doctors and nurses immediately volunteered to work with Aspen Medical, but the company said four out of five of the 240 workers it engages will likely be African.
Despite finally activating a plan, the government was hit with more accusations that it has dragged its feet on Ebola.
An EU statement dated October 20 made a clear guarantee that international health responders would "receive the treatment they need, in line with clinical advice, via treatment in country to an appropriate standard or medical evacuation supported by means of a specialised commercial aircraft or member states capabilities on a case by case basis".
Five days after the 14-page EU statement on Ebola was issued, Health Minister Peter Dutton was still claiming that the government had no concrete guarantee that a friendly country would accept an Australian Ebola victim for treatment.
Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said he was angry that direct questions from him on international assurances were rebuffed by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials at a Senate estimates hearing three days after the EU offer was made.
A transcript of that hearing shows that DFAT secretary Peter Varghese conceded that "in recent days, there have been some quite positive responses to those questions".
Senator Di Natale: "I will be very direct here: have any of those countries provided assurances that in the event an Australian needs treatment, that that treatment would be offered?"
Mr Varghese: My understanding is that we have not received any blanket guarantees to that effect … there are no blanket assurances"
On Thursday, Senator Di Natale said: "Not any point did DFAT volunteer that they did have a firm agreement."
A DFAT spokesman said: "The department confirmed during the 23 October Senate Estimates hearing that Australia was in discussions with several European countries about evacuation and in-country treatment assurances. The European Commission was listed as one of those parties.
"Mr Varghese indicated his understanding that the assurances were still on a case-by-case basis. This is entirely consistent with the Council of European Union statement that says care will be provided on a case-by-case basis and additionally subject to available resources."
A spokesman for Health Minister Peter Dutton said the government was aware of the October 20 statement, but said: "It was important to ensure that robust country level capabilities underpinned the EU-wide arrangement."
As a result of consultations with European partners, the government "received credible assurances for in-country treatment and medical evacuation for Australian volunteers who provide health care in West Africa", the spokesman said.
Aspen Medical said it will need to begin a training phase for workers before taking over the 100-bed British hospital in Sierra Leone.
Canberra-based Aspen, with a workforce of 2200, has become a regular recipient of government contracts, particularly from Defence.
In 2009, it signed three contracts worth $130 million to provide assistance to the regional mission in the Solomon Islands. This year it received another $26.5 million for regional assistance.
The company was officially opened in 2004 by the then Howard Government Health Minister Tony Abbott.
Electoral records show it donated $11,000 to the Queensland LNP last year.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has asked Australia and Canada to justify their decisions last week to suspend migration from Ebola-hit countries.
"These are measures that go beyond the recommendations of the WHO's emergency committee," said Isabelle Nuttall, who heads WHO's alert and response department.
Australia on October 27 became the first Western nation to suspend migration from Ebola-hit West African nations, and Canada followed suit four days later.
Who reported on Thursday that the Ebola death toll stood at a revised figure of 4818, with just more than 13,000 reported cases.
