You should pay if stupidity sparks rescue, says harbourmaster

Marty Black
Marty Black
Both Queenstown's Harbourmaster and a rescue helicopter pilot say people who need rescuing due to their "own stupidity'' should have to foot the bill.

Harbourmaster Marty Black's comments follow the rescue of two men who got caught out in rapids on the Kawarau River on an inflatable mattress on Sunday night.

Mr Black refused to send someone out on a jet ski when the call came in about 9.30pm, saying it was too dangerous.

A helicopter and search and rescue crew were deployed instead, rescuing the pair about 11pm.

Mr Black said the two men, one from Queenstown and one from Dunedin, put not only themselves but their rescuers at risk.

"It's an area just below Dog Leg Rapids. You don't want to be playing around there in the dark.''

Mr Black said he was "dead against'' the public having to foot the cost of rescue operations when those needing rescue were at fault.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't go and rescue them, but they need to take responsibility for their actions.''

He said the cost of a helicopter for a search and rescue mission was about $2000 an hour.

His comments were backed by Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust chief pilot Graeme Gale.

"If it's your stupidity that put you in that situation, if you were doing something that was ridiculous, you should have to pay,'' he said.

Coastguard New Zealand chief executive Patrick Holmes shared their frustration, but said Coastguard had no plans to charge for rescues.

"If it's a search and rescue operation where lives are at risk, we will do our best to rescue them, and there won't be a charge,'' he said.

Mr Holmes said Coastguard did charge in situations where lives were not at risk, for example, if someone ran out of petrol while boating on a lake and had to be helped to shore.

It cost $400 every time a Coastguard boat was launched, he said.

Police also said there were no plans to charge.

A spokeswoman said police had a "statutory obligation to provide search and rescue (SAR) services as part of their normal business, and are funded to do so''.

"While there is normally some monetary cost associated with a SAR operation, this is factored into and funded from within normal police operating budgets, so there is never any financial 'charge' imposed on anyone who is in distress and needs our help.''

Sunday night's rescue came just hours after an Indian tourist suffered a medical event on a KJet boat on Lake Wakatipu about 5pm, and later died.

 

Comments

And who exactly do the police think provides the funding for their budgets?

The harbourmaster and pilot are 100% correct — all the current policy does is encourage idiocy at taxpayer expense.

This is a slippery slope and not one I'd like us to go down. While I'm not condoning the actions of these people, we all take risks and we all make mistakes. They're not always comparable in terms of culpability either. The question will always be, where do you draw the line.
Even well prepared adventurers need rescuing some times, when many of us wouldn't take the risk in the first place. Adrenaline activities or sports like motor racing, despite contributing more to ACC still don't cover the associated costs when things go wrong. Many of us wouldn't bother to start with because of the risks, so why should our taxes contribute? Smokers, despite the tax, don't pay for their well documented, more expensive, health care. Drinking, unhealthy lifestyles, even healthy activities like cycling....

No, this is not the answer. Perhaps fines or penalties for not following rules is a better way of looking at this kind of scenario.

 

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