Hon Rob Horstman asks about the deployment frequency of the large air tanker based at Busselton Margaret River Airport. Hon Matthew Swinbourn provides a detailed schedule of deployments.

AnsweredQoN 43Legislative Council
Asked
25 February 2026
Portfolio
Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

Busselton Margaret River Airport—Air tanker43.Hon Rob Horstmanto
theminister representing the Minister for Emergency
Services:I refer to the large
air tanker based at the Busselton Margaret River Airport and on contract from Coulson
Aviation.(1) How many times has the large air tanker been
deployed to assist fighting fires since it arrived in late 2025?(2) Will the minister
provide a schedule of deployments to date?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
25 February 2026
Response time
0 days
Hon Matthew Swinbourn replied:I thank the member
for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me
by the Minister for Emergency Services. The department advises the following.(1) Nine.(2) This part of the question is in tabular form,
so I seek leave to have that incorporated intoHansard.Leave granted for
the following material to be incorporated.Coulson
Aviation Large Air Tanker C130 DeploymentsNumberDateIncident111 December
2025Upper Swan214 to 15
December 2025Warradarge316 December
2025Mindarabin425 December
2025Boddington526 to 27
December 2025Fitzgerald
National Park630 December
2025Warnbro717 to 22
January 2026Telegraph818 January
2026Dunn Rock918 to 23
January 2026South Coast
ComplexThe national LAT has
been deployed in Western Australia an additional seven times. In total, the national
and Western Australian LATs have been deployed 16 times in response to fires
across the state.
Busselton Margaret River Airport—Air tanker

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