Four S-64 Air Crane helicopters, which were shipped from Greece, arrived in Australia on Saturday night, just in time for the summer bushfire season.
The announcement came via Richard Marles MP on Facebook, who said the helicopters had been delivered safely to the Port of Geelong.
“(The helicopters) will be up in the air, supporting emergency response crews on the ground right across the country,” Mr Marles wrote.
Mr Marles added these helicopters are important to avoid “a repeat of last summers bushfires,” but Australia should still have its own dedicated Australian aerial fire fighting fleet of aircraft.
“The priority needs to be our hardworking firefighters and keeping Australians safe year round,” he said.
The important delivery from Greece came in the face a record-breaking weekend heatwave across most of the south eastern and eastern parts of Australia.
Several fires also broke out in Sydney’s west, with firefighters battling to get them under control until a southerly change on Sunday evening sent temperatures plummeting.
