Although she said it was her first ever visit to the country music capital, Ms Kelly said her four children had all visited at times, along with country-raised university mates, and she was so impressed with the city that she promised to return.

Later in the day, the Tamworth rescue crew took Ms Kelly for a 10-minute orientation ride over the city before she departed on a commercial flight back to Sydney.

The second chopper for the Tamworth base is set to arrive in March and go into service from then.

The Hunter General Manager for Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, Richard Jones, said it was the combination of Westpac banking’s significant financial commitment and the regional community’s contributions which resulted in the chopper expansion.

“The new Westpac Rescue Helicopter will ensure greater safety for all our members of the community, flying expert medical staff, paramedics and retrieval teams from the Tamworth Hospital to the regions for the sick and injured,” Mr Jones said.

Of the 200-plus missions conducted from Tamworth, most attend motor vehicle, agricultural and farming accidents, and critical specialist care flights.

“Since November 2011, the service has conducted 66 missions and 11 of those missions were for patients 15 years or younger,” he said.

Ms Kelly said the second BK117-B2 helicopter would provide greater availability and reliability for the northern communities.

The banking head used a full day’s visit in Tamworth to meet rescue staff and those they’ve saved since the service set up in Tamworth in 2000.

Since then it has flown more than 2000 missions, now up to an average of 200 a year, and moved into its new $2.3 million airside base in July 2010.

Ms Kelly did the honours of officially launching the new chopper early yesterday before meeting some of those the service had helped, like Walcha graziers Hamish McLaren and Steve Hoy, farmer Peter O’Keefe from Yarrowitch and Tamworth real estate agent Rob Philp.

All four were accident victims transported by the service and who now are among legendary rescue champions and fundraiser organisers for it.

Ms Kelly told a business lunch at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, where 400 people sat down to hear her financial commentaries, that the association between the banking group and the rescue service was now 38 years old in Australia and among the longest corporate partnerships surviving.

“That’s something deeply in our DNA; long may it continue and long may it go forward,” she said.

She also met with banking staff, officially opened a new business banking centre, dedicated a memorial boardroom for a former Tamworth manager, Brian Birchall, presented a special certificate of service to another for his 44 years, and wandered among account holders and others who bank with other institutions, speaking and chatting and answering questions.

Although she said it was her first visit to the Country Music Capital, Ms Kelly said her four children had all visited at times, along with country-raised university mates, and she was so impressed with the city that she promised to return.

Later in the day, the Tamworth rescue crew took Ms Kelly for a 10-minute orientation ride over the city before she departed on a commercial flight back to

Sydney.

The second chopper for the Tamworth base is set to arrive in March and go into service from then.