A Sydney plastics manufacturer who pivoted his business to make face shields during the COVID-19 pandemic says he is still out of pocket more than $800,000 after they were never procured by the NSW government. Six years later, Mark Barkat told nine.com.au he is still paying thousands of dollars each month to store and insure 4500 boxes of unused TGA-approved personal protective equipment (PPE). "I threw almost a million dollars to produce that," Barkat said. "And for the last six years, every single month, I’m paying insurance, factory rent... over $6000. I tried to help people... with my money, with my efforts, with my knowledge, I made something for frontline healthcare workers, and instead of giving me thanks or something, I am suffering."
Local businesses urged to aid pandemic response
In April 2020, then NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian sounded a call to arms, asking local businesses to help the nation avoid a shortage of medical supplies as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated into a global health crisis and supply channels were “massively disrupted”. Barkat, the owner of Sydney Plastic in Castle Hill, who until then had been successfully manufacturing point-of-sale display products, answered the call. Within a week, he had lodged an application on the COVID-19 Emergency Supplies Registration Portal confirming his company was capable of producing eyewear, specifically face shields. The application was approved two days later. He then registered his face shield with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and was notified on April 21 that Sydney Plastic had been “qualified in” as a potential supplier by HealthShare NSW, which is part of NSW Health and provides support services for patients, hospitals and health facilities. Barkat went ahead and manufactured 300,000 face shields, to the necessary AS/NZS specifications and CE Marking under European Union standards, at a cost of more than $800,000. Three months later, on July 15, Sydney Plastic was notified HealthShare NSW had a surplus for the “medium term” and would not be placing an order.
Barkat says there was no public tender, formal bidding process or other procurement pathway for PPE provided by HealthShare NSW. A spokesperson for HealthShare NSW told nine.com.au in a statement that qualification as a supplier “did not constitute approval to supply, a contractual commitment, or a guarantee of orders”. "All procurement decisions across NSW Health are guided by clinical guidance, operational requirements and stock availability, and are guided by open, fair and transparent procurement processes." The spokesperson said an open market tender for PPE, including face shields, was published on the Buy.NSW website in 2025. Barkat said he was never notified of any tender, and in 2026 was told by NSW Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Michael Holland in a letter, seen by nine.com.au, that HealthShare NSW did not require face shields and that position had not changed since the pandemic. "During our many correspondences with HealthShare NSW we were always told that our details had been registered and that we would be contacted if there was a face shield tender," Barkat said. "This never occurred."
In 2022, a report by the NSW auditor-general revealed NSW Health had disposed of $775.8 million of COVID-19 inventory during the pandemic because the equipment was expired, faulty, or didn’t meet standards. Specifically, $158.8 million of inventory, including face masks supplied by an overseas vendor, had to be disposed of because it failed TGA requirements. "There should be some consequence, some accountability," Barkat said. "That horrible mismanagement cannot make me the financial loser like that." Barkat claims he was also misled into thinking the government might still procure his face shields in the future. Correspondence from HealthShare NSW to Sydney Plastic, seen by nine.com.au, states that “if the evolving situation around COVID-19 changes any of this, we may contact you again regarding your offer”. Barkat’s local federal MP, Alex Hawke, toured the Sydney Plastic facility in November of 2020, and at the time, recommended Barkat explore federal government procurement or opportunities for export. In 2023, Barkat made a complaint to the Commonwealth ombudsman, a process he said dragged on for two years and was ultimately unsuccessful. Barkat wants the government to either purchase the product or pay him damages to dispose of them. "This is not at all fair to me," Barkat said. "It’s a huge burden to maintain the goods. I can’t throw them and even if I want to throw them, it will cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars to bury them. Come and take these things from me, then you can go for the other suppliers overseas."
