That may have been Hookway Helicopters following the collapse of the bridge in Hobart.

Not the first time the Tas Govt engaged in a bit of nepotism.
I may not have the details absolutely right but for the state mapping contract one had to have a super accurate and very expensive compass that would read off in 1/10 of a degree... to allow for “accurate” photo flight line tracking. Know anyone who can maintain a track with an aircraft in lumpy conditions , or at any time for that matter.
Obviously other companies never bothered, you may not win the contact anyway, and with the normal way of doing things in those days ...Mk 1 eyeball and map reading the PhotoNav directed the pilot for any minor heading changes to stay on track.
Once GPS came along it was a doddle for very small heading adjustments to stay on the invisible track.

Yes.

The States can, and some still do, license routes within their geographical boundaries for economic reasons - usually to ensure the financial viability and therefore attractiveness to potential operators and, in turn, the reliability of the service (until something like Covid happens...). The Commonwealth licenses the operators for safety reasons - through the issue of Air Operator Certificates.

E.g for Western Australia: https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/avia...r%20than%20for

You may call it that if you so wish, but the community had the instant availability of a resource that hitherto had been unavailable.