Deploying National Parks and Wildlife Services helicopters to help in the flood crisis engulfing the north of NSW would only put lives at risk, State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York says.
At NSW budget estimate hearings on Tuesday, Labor politicians asked why the NPWS fleet of five choppers had not been sent to help, saying the state needed "all hands on deck" to help flood-hit communities on the northern rivers.
Labor's Walt Secord said a proactive approach to the disaster would prompt the NPWS to send its fleet to the state's north, where 34,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes and another 310,000 warned to be ready to leave.
