Million-dollar red tape waste

IT’S obscene.

The Queensland Government has wasted more than $1 million using a Brisbane-based chopper so Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk could view flood damage at Ingham, visit the victims of the floods and thank emergency service personnel.

Not only did it cost $156,000 to fly in an extra chopper, but it was damaged with five rotor blades striking a metal stand. They cost an estimated $250,000 each to be replaced.

A commercial rescue helicopter was being used at nearby Tully at the same time.

The cost of hire for the Premier’s visit would have been about $4500.

Is this bureaucractic incompetence and waste gone mad?

Cairns operator Nautilus Aviation’s Bell 412 helicopter was available but did not receive the call until it became apparent QGAir’s Brisbane-based chopper was out of action.

It is now estimated by commercial experts the entire trip and the damage repair bill could be close to $2 million.

The Far North’s thinly-stretched rescue helicopter fleet has been a bone of contention for years, causing long delays coming to the aid of divers in trouble on the Great Barrier Reef.

Nautilus has a fully equipped rescue helicopter that meets all of the criteria and standard but there is a reluctance by the State Government to use it until the last minute.

A year ago the same helicopter was called to help rescue an injured hiker after all three northern rescue choppers were out of contention. But it took two hours for a decision to be made in Brisbane.

QGAir needs an overhaul. Nick Dalton Deputy editor