WESTPAC SERVICES JOIN FORCES FOR TENDER PROCESS

Newcastle’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter will join forces with its north coast counterpart,as the state government streamlines the tender process for air rescue services.

The government announced earlier this year that it will only award two contracts for the state, one for the north, one for Sydney and the south.

The Hunter-New England and Lismore-based services will now apply under a single tender.

“The community won’t see any difference, they’ll see bigger, faster and safer helicopters and what we say with great certainty is like when we started in Tamworth, that we can guarantee by divisional accounting that any money raised in the respective areas will stay there.”

The tender won’t be signed off on until December next year.

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