Tasmania’s only rescue helicopter service could be run by a mainland operator when the current decades-old contract ends next year, raising fears that years of local expertise could be lost.
Rotor-Lift’s Allana Corbin says her Hobart-based company has been left in limbo while the Liberal government considers tendering the search and rescue contract to another provider.
“Our contract ends in the middle of January next year. Beyond that, we haven’t been told anything,” Corbin told reporters on Friday.
Labor leader Dean Winter says his party would scrap any current tender process and guarantee the contract stays with Rotor-Lift if elected.
“This contract can’t go to a mainland operator. It shouldn’t go to a mainland operator,” Winter said. “There’s only one organisation that’s equipped, experienced to do this work.”
“When Tasmanians get in trouble, they expect to be looked after by Tasmanian pilots and Tasmanian choppers coming from a Tasmanian base.”
“That’s what they get with Rotor-Lift. That’s what they’ll have with a Labor government.”
New South Wales-headquartered CareFlight confirmed in a statement last year that it has put in a joint bid for the contract with Cambridge-based Helicopter Resources.
Winter said the current situation Rotor-Lift is facing “doesn’t pass the pub test”.
“The Liberals’ plan here has been to effectively outsource a Tasmanian rescue service to the mainland. That’s not good enough,” he said.
Corbin said the uncertainty is taking its toll on her local team. “It has been really tough for us. Morale has been challenging,” she said.
“I’ve got 37 young families that work here that are dedicated to the work. They’re the most professional, dedicated and highly skilled pilots, engineers and office staff.”
“They’re 37 fine Tasmanians and I will fight for them to remain here doing their job because they do it spectacularly well.”
Rotor-Lift’s operations cover the whole state and surrounding waters, including King Island and Flinders Island, with missions stretching as far as Wilsons Promontory.
The company handles everything from routine rescues to high-profile missions, like the recent award-winning Franklin River extraction featured on Australian Story.
Corbin said the contract originally came through the former Tasmanian Air Rescue Trust, which she co-founded with her late husband Roger.
The state government later took over the trust and now manages sponsorship arrangements, including with Westpac, independently of Rotor-Lift.
The company has run under five-plus-five-year contracts, with both 10-year periods extended over its 25-year history.
“We want to back in this operator because we know the incredible work that they’ve been doing for 25 years in our state,” Winter said.
“This is an organisation which has been synonymous with search and rescue, with looking after Tasmanians when they need it most.”
Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff said the “competitive tender process”, impacted by the state election, will be awarded to the “best possible service”.
“What I’ll guarantee is that Tasmanians will get the best possible service when it comes to supporting and rescuing Tasmanians,” he said.
