Marine Rescue Queensland Whitsunday Volunteers Honoured

It was a proud moment for Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ), formerly Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) Whitsunday this week, as volunteers were presented with their MRQ Citations during a special ceremony.

Family, friends, community representatives, and fellow first responders gathered to celebrate the dedication and service of the local crew, who have played a vital role in keeping Whitsunday waters safe.

Chief Officer Tony Wulff reflected on the organisation’s long history in the region, acknowledging both the legacy of service and the future ahead.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺,” he said.

With 60 years of service already behind them, MRQ Whitsunday volunteers continue to demonstrate their commitment to saving lives and promoting safe boating.

“Thanks for having us, crew – here’s to the next 60 years and beyond!”

Marine Rescue Queensland Unit Commander Shane Newell said under Marine Rescue Queensland they will no longer need to fund their own rescues.

"As VMR, we were self owned, so we owned all the assets, and we had to fund our operations.

"We had to charge a fee to cover our fuel, half our work is going to the islands or medi-vacs with ambulance on board, and the fuel bill for every one of those is at least $500.

"We were self funded by sausage sizzles, raffles and things like that.

"The big change now is that MRQ owns us, so all of our assets have been moved over to the government. They now pick up the term costs, which is really good."

Unit Commander Shane Newell added that Marine Rescue Queensland Whitsunday have two vessels with another one expected next year.

"We have a large, 12 metre vessel with 1000 horsepower of diesel inboard engines, and we can take it out in cyclones. So it's a very useful piece of equipment to go and rescue people in the worst possible weather, and it'll cope with it," he said.

"We've also got a 6.7 metre vessel with two 230 horsepower outboards on the back and we can use it for towing quite large vessels as well.

"We're now in the process of having a one and half million dollar vessel being built, and expect it early next year."

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Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ) volunteers were celebrated at a special event last week

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