I dont have much interest in helicopters it was the budget that caught my eye.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...6/s1654532.htm
Qld Budget to include $50m helicopter spending
The Queensland Government will spend more than $48 million replacing its helicopter rescue fleet.
The overhaul will be part of record emergency services spending in Tuesday's Budget.
Premier Peter Beattie says the three helicopters will be bought over four years, with the first to be operational next July.
The funding will be included in next week's Budget.
Mr Beattie says the choppers have greater range and better night capabilities than the current versions.
"The helicopters - Augusta AW139 - we'll be the first in Australia to have them and we'll be at the cutting edge of these sorts of services," he said.
"This is not just a bit of bravado. The reality is we are the most decentralised state in Australia. We need them."
The improved performance of the Augusta 139s will take nearly 25 minutes off a two-hour retrieval mission, significantly increasing patients' survival odds.
Treasurer Anna Bligh says technological improvements will also make them capable of difficult night rescues.
"It's an autohover capacity, that allows winch retrievals over water at night time, which is currently not possible with the existing fleet," she said.
In 2001, the Rockhampton-based rescue helicopter crashed while trying to rescue stricken fishermen, at night, 130 nautical miles offshore.
No one was killed, but chief pilot Trevor Wilson says there was an anxious wait in treacherous conditions until daylight.
"When we located them at 2 o'clock in the morning, because we didn't have this service enhancement, all we were able to do is certainly drop them supplies, and come back at first light to perform the winch rescues," he said.
Two of the new helicopters will be operational in the second half of next year.
Altogether $64 million will be allocated to emergency management in Ms Bligh's first Budget, including another $5 million for the network of community helicopter providers, and more than $2 million for rescue services in the Torres Strait.