A big cattle station??
Wally. Victoria is only a little bigger than a decent cattle station, and has lots of bitumen and runway lights.
However these days governments will not build many big hospitals away from capital cities, so they have to provide good airmedical services. You blokes did provide an essential service, and I understand when you say you got great satisfaction from your work. I believe you had good reason to.
But the awarding of big money ontracts etc is a wierd and wonderful world that hardly anyone understands. (some pretend to).
It is common for govts etc to have to get three quotes for contracts/charter flights etc, and I remember a long time ago, one organisation that had three AOC's. I was puzzled because one of them was only for a C182 which hardly ever flew.
But they could give three quotes (All from the same office) and win lots of work that no other ompanies knew about. The three quotes rule was satisfied. For a long time they had cheap pilots too.
(This was not the RFDS)
The "high level" negotiations are oftem mysterious.
I wish you well, and hope you find similar, rewarding work.