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Additional funding of $29.1 million will be given to the RFDS over the two financial years to 30 June 2025, on top of the $1 billion in funding already committed over 10 years. The extra funding includes $1 million for a permanent healthcare hub in William Creek, South Australia.
The $150 million agreement means the state will receive a new Airbus H145 D3 and Bell 412 EP, while an existing 30-year-old police helicopter will be retired.
The aeromedical charity will receive $586.1 million over the next decade, including $18.3 million for a newly-built for-purpose hangar at Sunshine Coast Airport’s new Aerospace Precinct, which LifeFlight says is the most significant regional infrastructure project in its 44-year history and capable of housing two AW139 rescue helicopters and one Challenger 604 Air Ambulance jet.
Australia and New Zealand have signed a $190 million deal with Inmarsat to improve the accuracy of GPS signals to as little as 10 centimetres.
The larger hangar will allow the aeromedical charity to double its current base maintenance capacity and will form the “epicentre” of the organisation’s engineering activities in Queensland.
A newly-recruited helicopter emergency services officer has told the story of his first winching rescue - on his second day on the job.
