The MAF Fuel for Father’s Day campaign is now in its 13th year! Thanks to the unwavering support of churches and our generous donors like you, we’ve funded the fuel needed for 150 minutes of flight time every day for the past 12 years, through this campaign. This incredible support brings help, hope and healing to countless people in isolated areas worldwide. Just 15 minutes of flight time can make a tremendous impact, so funding 150 minutes daily for 12 years is truly remarkable!
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Media Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday 1 August 2025
Brisbane bush pilot’s proudest dad moments: ‘Watching my boys be fathers and helping other dads in need.’
Former Brisbane Police Officer Steven Biggs [51] has returned to his first love of flying – now as a Training Captain for Mission Aviation Fellowship [MAF], the world’s largest humanitarian air service. His flying career with MAF spans over a decade – with experiences of performing emergency air evacuations, transporting aid workers across West Africa and moving his young family to live among the Indigenous communities of Elcho Island in Arnhem Land.
Steven is backing MAF’s 13th Fuel for Father’s Day campaign – which calls for Aussie kids to buy their dad a jerry can of aircraft fuel to help MAF pilots like him fly in some of the most challenging flying conditions on earth. To date, Australian supporters have raised enough to fund almost two hours of MAF flying every single day for 12 years – a cause Steven finds remarkable.
‘As I get older, I don’t need stuff,’ Steven said. ‘But getting fuel for MAF makes me and my boys feel like we’re really helping – and I can tell you that MAF aircraft really do make a difference!’
Now based in Mareeba where MAF has a training base, Steven is fulfilling his childhood dream of being a bush pilot and helping others – preparing dozens of new MAF recruits for the high-aptitude humanitarian operations which the NGO performs in 25 low-income countries worldwide. It’s a role he describes as ‘hugely fulfilling’ but will prevent him from seeing his kids on Father’s Day.
After a recent reunion with his family in coastal Queensland this July, he describes the privilege of being a dad is mixed with the sacrifice of living so far from his three boys and four grandchildren. ‘I’ve done a number of medevac flights for little kids around the world and seeing a dad carry his poorly child onto the aircraft – knowing I’m airlifting them to safety – is a real privilege,’ he says.
Steven recalls one story from 2020 as the pandemic hit, which keeps him motivated when the going gets tough. He was radioed to a remote village in Liberia where a young American family were supporting the Manya people through literacy and education. If Steven didn’t fly them to the capital, they would have been stranded without food or medicine – the journey too challenging to travel by road before the country went into lockdown.
‘It happened to be my son’s 21st birthday that day, and I was feeling low about being so far from Queensland,’ Steven recalls. ‘But when I landed, nine-year-old Audery had drawn me a picture of an MAF plane, and her father was overwhelmed with gratitude to be airlifted from the Liberian bush. I realised that ensuring this family could be safe was worth being separated from mine. I’ve kept Audrey’s drawing on my desk ever since as a reminder about why I choose to fly with MAF and help people make a difference in challenging and remote locations.’
Steven and his wife Margot first relocated from Queensland in 2000 to live among Yolngu communities of Arnhem Land with their three boys who were all under the age of five. Living in blistering heat and juggling homeschooling, bush flying and wild animals was a daring adventure. But flying for MAF was a job Steven had chosen since the age of eight, growing near an airfield with a growing passion for aviation.
‘Many of my friends thought we were crazy when we said we were moving to Elcho Island,’ he smiles. ‘But since I first heard about MAF’s amazing work as a kid – taking aviation and technology into the most isolated locations – I wanted to be involved. From the thrill of my first solo flight aged 15, I still get a buzz when I’m at the controls of an aircraft.’
Living for four years as a young family in Arnhem Land and briefly in South Africa completed Steven’s first MAF assignment. ‘Those were challenging times, facing a combination of homesickness and deep fulfilment every single day,’ he admits. ‘The boys had constant heat rash, and our old air conditioning sounded like a freight train! But they look back on their childhood with the Yolngu people with great fondness.’
Returning to Brisbane in 2004, Steven joined the police force, and his three boys Wesley, Elliot and Jack got stuck into cricket, soccer and bike riding – spending hours playing on Morayfield State High recreation grounds at the bottom of their yard.
‘I’ve got the fondest memories of taking them to watch cricket – little Jack with his face painted and us all cheering together at The Gabba,’ Steven says. ‘I ploughed my life into my boys – and now they’re all grown up, my proudest dad moment has not been a graduation or a wedding – it’s seeing them as fantastic dads themselves.’
Returning to MAF in 2019 after his boys left home, Steven has enjoyed flying in Liberia, Uganda and now Mareeba with MAF – staying connected to his family via video calls.
‘I’ve been far from the perfect dad,’ Steven concludes. ‘But I’ve always wanted to show them how to do fatherhood like my dad did for me – faith has been a big part of that. Watching my boys do a fantastic job as dads is incredible. But it’s also a privileged to help fathers across the world to have the best lives they can with the help of a small aircraft and great demonstration of love in action. I hope lots of dads receive a jerry can of MAF fuel this Father’s Day.’
[ends]
Notes to Editor:
A collection of images of Steven are available here (credit MAF)
MAF
Millions of people cannot access basic medical care, clean water, food or education, simply because it’s too dangerous or time-consuming to reach them. Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) provides flights for over 1,500 aid, development and mission organisations to enable the world’s remotest people to access the essentials they need to survive. Every four minutes, an MAF plane takes off or lands in more than 25 low-income countries, flying help, hope and healing to some of the remotest places on earth.
Fuel for Father’s Day campaign
The MAF Fuel for Father’s Day campaign is now in its 13th year. The campaign has funded aircraft fuel needed for 150 minutes of flight time every day for the past 12 years. This incredible support brings help, hope and healing to countless people in isolated areas worldwide. Just 15 minutes of flight time can make a tremendous impact, so funding 150 minutes daily for 12 years is truly remarkable
https://gifts.maf.org.au/pages/fathersday
Media Enquiries
Interviews can be arranged with Steven, a MAF Australia spokesperson.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Eleanor Rivers [email protected]