Who pays the $21 million bill for search and rescue
Who pays the $21 million bill for search and rescue
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106096930/who-pays-the-21-million-bill-for-mountain-rescues
Succesful Mt Aspiring Rescue
Wanaka LandSar's Alpine Rescue Team Leader Davie Robinson talks about the successful Mt Aspiring rescue. (Video first published in August 2018)
When someone gets into trouble in the backcountry, getting them home isn't cheap.
Australian soldier Terry Harch was airlifted from Mt Aspiring, near Wanaka last week. Harch spent three days trapped alone on the mountain, then another night with rescuers.
The cost of the Mt Aspiring rescue hasn't been added up yet but is thought to be around $150,000. Around 500 volunteer hours were also involved in that operation.
It was the second time Harch has been rescued from a New Zealand mountain. The first time he and a friend needed help while on Mt Tasman. Meanwhile, a New Zealand climber who met Terry Harch climbing Mt Cook in 2011 said the Australian soldier was "an accident waiting to happen" in the Southern Alps.
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* More trampers rescued from Central Plateau than any other place
* Search and rescue for stranded drivers costs almost $57,000
* Australian climber Terry Harch 'an accident waiting to happen'
Both police and LandSAR emphasise the most important thing is for people in trouble to feel all right about calling for help in time - and no one would want to see injured or stranded people left to fend for themselves.
But it raises the question: Who pays for mountain rescues - and is that fair?
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE RESCUED?
Latest annual figures are in the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council's annual report for 2016-17.
During that year, 160 lives were considered to have been saved, 670 people rescued and 927 people assisted.
WANAKA SEARCH AND RESCUE
HOW MUCH ARE WE SPENDING?
Government spending on search and rescue is put at $21.2 million in the latest year for which figures are available, but the total cost varies year to year and is hard to fully estimate.
That figure does not fully represent significant overhead and capital costs. Volunteers also spent tens of thousands of hours involved in search and rescue operations.
WHAT COSTS SO MUCH?
Flying a helicopter is expensive, but most of the money is spent on just having the service ready to go.
"The greatest cost to the sector is not any individual operation, but it's for us to exist," according to Duncan Ferner, secretariat manager of NZSAR.
"To keep people on trained and in a job, along with the having the equipment on standby, such as a boat or helicopter, is where the real cost is."
For the police, costs may include staff wages, costs of hiring equipment, vehicles and other resources.
WHO PAYS?
The national policy is to not charge anyone who needs help for any search and rescue, whether they are Kiwis or from overseas.
That is a policy for fairness and it's also just logical, Ferner said.
"We have a huge search area, about 3 million square metres, so to charge for some and not others just wouldn't make sense.
"We also have an international agreement that we can't charge for aviation and marine rescues, so to charge just for land wouldn't make sense."
Rescued people were not expected to pay, the police website confirmed. "We don't want people hiding from us to avoid costs".
A police spokeswoman said: "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."
LandSAR chief executive Carl McOnie said getting a contribution from someone who had been rescued was not the issue.
"At the end of the day, we just want people to give us a call so we can come and get them before it ends badly," he said.
Mt Aspiring rescue
Rescuers preparing to leave on a helicopter to Mt Aspiring.
ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS?
Technically yes, and that's down to police. "If there is evidence of recklessness police may lay charges and seek costs," according to the police website.
So if you set off to scale Mt Cook in your jandals, you could be charged with wasting police time and made to foot the bill, under police rules.
However, a police spokeswoman was not aware of anyone being charged to recover any operation costs to date.
"Police have a statutory obligation to provide Search and Rescue (SAR) services as part of their normal business, and are funded to do so."
IS THERE A CAP ON RESCUES?
No. "Cost is never a factor over the safety and welfare of those needing assistance when determining the appropriate course of action, and does not influence operational decision making," said the police spokeswoman.
DO WE HAVE TO RESCUE PEOPLE?
New Zealand has international obligations to conduct search and rescue as a signatory to the conventions on International Civil Aviation, Safety of Life at Sea, and Search and Rescue.
The Minister of Transport has statutory responsibility for the organisation and conduct of SAR activities under the Civil Aviation Act and the Maritime Transport Act.
SO THE MONEY COMES FROM TAXPAYERS, THEN?
Yes, search and rescue operations are mainly funded via a number of government agencies.
Government spending on search and rescue (SAR) in 2016-17 was about $21.2m, according to the 2016-17 report by NZSAR.
Of that $6.3m was on police, $6.6m on the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, $2.6m on the NZ Defence Force, $2.9m through service legal agreements, $1.3m through the Tertiary Education Commission, $1.2m on the NZSAR Secretariat, and $238,000 on the Department of Conservation.
About $5.7m of the spending came from the fuel excise duties paid by recreational boat users. That funded the Secretariat, the five service level agreements, and some RCCNZ activities.
BARRY HARCOURT
WHAT ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS?
The report said 11,384 people were directly involved in the SAR sector. Of those, only 3 per cent were paid full time, with another 3 per cent being paid part time.
In total, volunteers provided 786,903 hours supporting the SAR sector, although only 5.8 per cent of that time was directly on search and rescue operations.
Indirect activities include patrols, radio watch, training, administration and fund-raising.
DO TAXPAYERS GET A FAIR DEAL?
Using the Ministry of Transport's value of statistical life formula, it was calculated that 160 lives saved averted $597m in social costs. That included intangibles such as emotional costs to family and friends. Ferner puts the costs saved even higher.
There's also the fact that having search and rescue backup makes our backcountry a more appealing prospect, boosting both local and international tourism.
NZ POLICE
Peter Mersi, chair of the NZSAR Council which provides leadership to the sector, said in the report that "SAR plays a vital role in ensuring New Zealanders and guests to our country are able to enjoy our outdoor environment with confidence".
SHOULD WE CHANGE THE SYSTEM?
No, said Ferner. It's a cost effective operation that gives peace of mind to a large region.
"We shouldn't focus on the cost of one mission, but rather look at it more broadly. [In 2015/16] we saved 125 lives which saved $712 million, that's a cost benefit ratio of 30:1.
"But we are always interested in reducing the amount of work we do, ideally we don't want to search, so before embarking on any trek visiting adventuresmart.org.nz will help you plan a safe trip."