Guyra farmer Tony Looker is embarking on a nine-day four-wheel-drive trek across outback Australia in August to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
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Mr Looker is one of around 20 drivers taking part in the 2018 Drover’s Run Outback Adventure, an epic 3000 km journey across northern NSW and Queensland.
The event is one of the rescue chopper’s largest fundraisers, and should bring in $50,000.
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“I just want to keep that big bird in the sky,” Mr Looker said. “I want to make some money, and keep it going, because you never know, it could be me, it could be anybody, who’ll need that one day.”
The helicopter – sponsored by the NSW Government and Westpac Banking Corporation, and supported by the region’s communities – flies nearly 2000 missions a year. It attends accident sites, treats and transfers patients to hospital, and helps to find missing people – all free of charge to users.
The rescue chopper is a cause close to Mr Looker’s heart.
“My brother’s wife got very crook last year, and they had to fly her away,” he said. “My mum was a very good Westpac supporter; she passed away three years ago. My auntie passed away a month after Mum, and she was in the Westpac helicopter support group.”
This is the fifth time the Drover’s Run has been held. The four-wheel drives will set out from Tamworth on Saturday August 4, and head as far north as Longreach, central west Queensland, before returning to New England on Sunday August 12.
Normally a biennial event lasting a fortnight, this is an additional, shorter run to get new people involved, and give them the experience of what the bigger Drover’s Run trips are about.
“They give people the chance to see parts of Australia they probably wouldn’t go to,” said event co-ordinator Jeff Galbraith. “The scenery's amazing, but the people you meet out there are just as amazing. We get to meet the locals, and understand the highs and lows of outback Australia.”
Last year’s Drover’s Run, to the Flinders Ranges and Lake Eyre, raised $140,000, while the vehicles will go across the Simpson Desert next year.
This is the first time Mr Looker has done the Drover’s Run. He will travel in his 2008 Toyota Landcruiser with a Sydney cousin.
"I reckon it's gonna be great!” Mr Looker said. “It's just getting out there and proving we can do something to make money for the chopper. That's what I'm all about.'
He has already taken a weekend trip to spy out the land, and raise some money.
Mr Looker has been a four-wheel-drive enthusiast since his teens. He likes “just seeing where you can go, and where you can’t, pushing it to the limit to get that adrenaline. If they say you can’t do it, we want to do it!”
To take part, Mr Looker needs to raise $1,000 for the chopper, but hopes to raise more.
Wayne Jenkyn from Elders Rural Services will hold a sheep and lamb drive at the Guyra saleyards on Wednesday May 30. All proceeds will go to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. Farmers have donated nearly 30 sheep so far.
“We might end up with more,” Mr Looker said; “I don't know. That's without advertising or anything, just word of mouth."
Guyra businesses like the Royal Hotel, Ramage Engineering, and Guyra Fuels are also sponsoring Mr Looker’s journey.
“It’s that kind of support from the community that allows the helicopter to fly with no-one ever having to pay to be assisted,” Mr Galbraith said.
“I just want to do something for the community, before it's too late,” Mr Looker said; “put it out there, and see what I can do to raise some money for a good cause.”
If you are interested in sponsoring Tony Looker, you can call him on 0429 681 238, or donate online at https://droversrun2018.go-fundraise.com.au/page/Tony-Looker.