The Queensland government is taking steps to potentially privatise all government aviation services.
QLD Treasurer Tim Nicholls announced on August 23 that the government would investigate if taxpayers were getting the "best bang for their buck" in the operation of the Government Air Wing, Queensland Police Service Air Wing and Emergency Management Queensland.
"The government will consider outsourcing all or part of its air service operations and infrastructure to a commercial third party, or may decide to operate its fleet from a single, integrated air wing," Nicholls told parliament.
In light of the valuable work done by all three branches in the devastating 2011 Brisbane floods, it was thought the air services would be immune from budget cuts coming from the new Liberal National Party government. That appears not to be the case.
The government has since called for Registrations of Interest for third-party companies to provide services currently performed by the three aviation branches as part of the investigation. Included in the scope of the review would be:
- Government Air Wing: King Air B300 and Hawker 850XP
- QLD Police Service Air Wing: Three C208s, BN2, Cessna 560 and Beech 1900D
- Emergency Management QLD: Three Agusta Westland 139s and two Bell 412s
According to Nicholls, the government would not allow any reduction in flying hours under privatisation, and may actually be looking for air time to be increased for the same operating costs. The current cost to taxpayers of the three services is thought to be around $33 million.
Government Air Service aircraft are currently based at Brisbane, Cairns, Mount Isa and Horn Island.