[Peetwo]

Passing strange coincidences on drones - Part II 

On the 15 December the time expired for making submissions to the Senate RRAT Committee inquiry into :- Regulatory requirements that impact on the safe use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems and associated systems.                      

Submissions

1 Mr Don Raffaele (PDF 35 KB) 

2 Mr Ian Fraser (PDF 70 KB) 

3 Nitestar Security Group (PDF 83 KB) 

4 Mr John Cook (PDF 35 KB) 

5 Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (PDF 2095 KB) 

6 Mr Michael Fawcett (PDF 102 KB) 

7 Mr Vince Sofia (PDF 51 KB) 

8 Elevo Pty Ltd (PDF 371 KB) 

9 Mr Egon Kuster (PDF 84 KB) 

10 Mr Edward Browning (PDF 53 KB) 

11 Virgin Independent Pilots Association (PDF 251 KB) 

12 Australian Airports Association (PDF 265 KB) 

Now it could be there are still more to be put up on the webpage but the response so far is certainly underwhelming...  

VIPA in recommendation 8 mentions a number of Alphabet groups but beside the AAA there appears to be no other submissions from these stakeholders...

I find this quite surprising especially given that the AFAP (the Feds) were very proactive in lobbying Nick Xenophon and the Senate committee to have an inquiry and/or put forward a disallowance motion, both of which happened. Apparently NX has withdrawn his disallowance motion but the miniscule has tasked CASA with a review and the inquiry is still very much live.

Which brings me to Joseph Wheeler, a man who happens to be the legal counsel for the AFAP & ACUO and who was one of the main proponents for disallowing the Part 101 legislative instrument - see HERE & HERE. In in his end of year wrap on aviation safety legal issues for 2016 in the Oz, JW would seem to indicate that amongst other relevant issues that a deal has been made in regards to regulating drones (check the part in bold):

Year of safety list changes, mental health issues and rise of drones

Joseph Wheeler
The Australian
12:00AM December 16, 2016

This year pilots joined air traffic controllers and other professional associations against the Australian legislative imprimatur that a minority of lawless drone pilots can now hide behind.

Joseph Wheeler is the principal of IALPG, national head of aviation law at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and aviation legal counsel to the Australian Federation of Air Pilots

Remembering that the AFAP is in itself somewhat compromised by the fact that a large % of their membership reside within the walls of Fort Fumble. So have the Feds struck a compromise deal with the government or is there some other factor at play here?- just saying...

Jumped the gun...

Two days ago the Parliamentary webmaster informed me: 9 new submissions have been added. 

13 Austec Aerial Solutions (PDF 223 KB) 

14 Aeromodellers NSW (PDF 178 KB) 

15 Global Drone Solutions (PDF 74 KB) 

16 Little Ripper Lifesaver Pty Ltd (PDF 145 KB) 

17 Civil Aviation Safety Authority (PDF 2774 KB) 

18 Prof Des Butler (PDF 415 KB) 

19 International Aerospace Law & Policy Group (PDF 664 KB) 

20 ProUAV Australia (PDF 134 KB) 

So obviously the hard working Senate RRAT committee Secretariat have not knocked off yet and are still processing submissions...

Duh..I suppose I should have thought about there being no CASA submission...  After all the inquiry is largely about reviewing the effectiveness of CASR Part 101 to cover the gambit of public and air safety risk mitigation posed by the fast developing and growing UAV/RPA industry...

Because I think it is a real window into the soul of how the current regime (some would say clusterduck) at Fort Fumble is currently reacting to critical air safety issues, there will be more on the CASA submission in due course. 

IMO what is more of interest for now is the submission from Joseph Wheeler as the Principal of the IALPG and the main legal protagonist representing those 'other' pilot unions:

Who are IALPG?

International Aerospace Law & Policy Group (IALPG) is a specialist aviation legal practice based in Queensland, comprising Australian Founding Principal Joseph Wheeler, 3 foreign aviation legal experts who consult to the practice, including one local aviation safety and technical consultant who is both a qualified solicitor and full time international airline pilot.

Joseph Wheeler is one of the few post graduate alumni of the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law in Montreal, Canada, who practices in the field of law predominantly for pilots and passengers. He is an elected Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and:

• Aviation Legal Counsel to the Australian Federation of Air Pilots providing individual, association and government affairs advice (AFAP is Australia’s largest pilot professional association by member numbers);
  
• National Head of Aviation Law at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, providing advice and representation on air disaster and injury cases to Australian and overseas clients; Aviation Spokesperson of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, the leading social justice legal professional association in Australia;
  
• a member of the Legal Committee of the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) in Montreal, representing AusALPA (Australia’s member association to IFALPA, which is made up of AFAP and the Australian and International Pilots Association, AIPA). IFALPA represents over 100,000 pilots and flight engineers worldwide and has observer status at ICAO; a member of the Professional & Government Affairs Committee of IFALPA;
  
• appointed to the Management Committees of organisations which advocate for aviation safety through specialist technical, professional, or pilot health and wellbeing programs through member representation and other initiatives, including Australian Certified UAV Operators Inc (ACUO) and HIMS Australia Advisory Group Inc;
  
• and a regular commentator on aero legal and aero political affairs for The Australian.
  

Joseph has worked as a regulator for the Australian Government and was responsible for airport economic regulation policy oversight, and planning and development, as an Assistant Director in the Airports Branch, Canberra, from 2011 – 2013. He has published more than 100 articles in total in peer reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines, legal websites, and on topics as broad as air safety policy, international law, aviation conventions, RPAS regulation, and topical policy development in Australia and at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

He also speaks regularly at international conferences on aviation legal and policy topics, most recently on the most notable air crash disasters this decade (MH17 and MH370), RPAS regulation and policy, and the legal approach in Australia to pilot fatigue risk management regulation.

This submission follows the Terms of Reference (TOR) in the order they have been
presented.

"..This Senate Committee has an opportunity to lead a positive and long-lasting change in such regulation. The Recommendations set out below are respectfully submitted as suggested key lines of policy thought to guide such a change and the writer would be pleased to attend with the Committee as a witness to further discuss them..."


MTF...P2