[Peetwo]

6D AGAD continued bollocks on Airport security & BJ succession plans -

Via Minister AGAD's media webpage:

Sky News
Interview
DCI088/2017
23 October 2017
Subject: Airport security, citizenship

Samantha Maiden: Transport Minister, Darren Chester, has rolled out a range of new security measures for airports. They are taking some heat from critics. Welcome to the program, Darren.
Darren Chester: Good morning, Sam.
Samantha Maiden: So, critics have suggested that you are essentially arguing there should be a higher standard for some staff at airports and not others. Why is that?
Darren Chester: Well, the situation is we take advice from our transport security experts and obviously intelligence agencies, both here and abroad, and the International Civilian Aviation Organisation has an expectation that you will have random explosive trace detection as well as an unpredictable system of checking on the people who have access to secure areas. So we are talking about 140,000 people have access to secure areas. They have an Aviation Security Identification Card, they need background checks to get that card. Having secured that ASIC card, there’ll be additional checks now in terms of their daily working patterns, where they’ll be exposed to those random explosive trace detection, additional training for other aviation workers to make sure they’re vigilant around potential threats that might occur in the airport setting, and working to make sure that we’ve got the settings right to keep the Australian travelling public safe.
Samantha Maiden: You must hear a lot of things in your portfolio. Is there anything that you have heard in recent weeks or months leading up to making these changes that shocked or horrified you, in terms of what the security standards were?
Darren Chester: No, look I took advice from our experts in transport security. Now, we put some legislation through the House in March this year, which led up to these regulations coming into effect last week. So now we’re working with the nine major airports, the airports which are seeing a very rapid increase in passenger numbers from now out until 2030. We are seeing huge numbers in terms of increases of passengers, which is good, which is good for the aviation sector but it presents a challenge. You’ve got to manage the security risks. So, the changes that we made were all about making sure that we can keep that secure area of the airport as safe as it possibly can be, and we are taking the advice of the experts in that regard.
Samantha Maiden: This alleged plot that we recently heard a lot about in relation to aircraft; was there any lessons to be learned from that? There was one claim that there was an attempt to put a bomb on a plane that was essentially abandoned because the suitcase was too heavy. Was there anything about the allegations that have been raised in that case that made you think that more needed to be done?
Darren Chester: The Prime Minister himself said: this is an area of public policy where you can never just set and forget. So we are constantly reviewing the security settings right throughout the community. But in the aviation space and the transport space, we are working all the time to make sure we’re keeping up with any new or emerging threats. Now, there is no question the alleged plot in Sydney raised our level of concern to the point where we had additional scanning implemented at the airports immediately, and now, even though that plot has been averted, we have got a higher level than we had in the past. So while it’s down from that extreme level, I guess, and the immediate aftermath of that plot becoming public, there’s still a higher level now. So some of the things people actually notice themselves, they go through the airport, there’s more explosive trace detection scanning of passengers, but there’s other things they won’t notice because it happens behind closed doors and there’s a lot of measures in place which we can’t really talk about, in terms of publicly. We don’t want to tell the people who seek to do us harm exactly what we’re up to. But there’s a lot of things happening, both publicly and behind closed doors, which are all aimed at keeping the travelling public safe and keeping airport workers safe.
Samantha Maiden: What about this issue of photo ID? Why do you think people should continue to be able to get on domestic flights without showing any?
Darren Chester: Well, it is a conversation that’s occurring within security agencies right now, and it’s occurring publicly as well. The point to remember though, when we’re scanning people getting on board an aircraft, we’re most concerned about what they’re carrying or what’s in their bag. Their actual identification, who they are, isn’t as important from an aviation security perspective as what they may be carrying. So we need to have the debate, we need to have the discussion about whether we’re ready to move towards producing a photo ID for every domestic flight, but we have a bit of a problem in Australia that we have different licensing systems in each state. So there’s no one single photo card that’s linked up in a database that would immediately be available to the police and law enforcement activities. But it’s a debate that we need to have, and I’m happy to participate in that, but from a straight out aviation security setting, our focus is on making sure that people don’t get on board planes with things that can do harm to others.
Samantha Maiden: Okay, let’s get to the Nationals. There was a lot of chatter last week that the Nationals were not impressed, that there was some announcements in terms of funding, particularly in the lead up to the Queensland election, that the One Nation Party was involved in. Have you taken any concerns to the leadership, to the Liberal Party, that this doesn’t happen again?
Darren Chester: Well, I have many conversations with my colleagues within Cabinet, and most of them stay private for that reason. We had a conversation on policy areas, on issues of concern, and the important thing is that they do stay private. So yes, I have had conversations with colleagues about how we manage our portfolios in the lead up to state elections, and in the lead up to the Federal election. We have a good, strong working relationship, we have got a great team, I think Prime Minister Turnbull’s doing a good job…
Samantha Maiden: Why would One Nation be involved though, in that sort of…
Darren Chester: Well I wasn’t part of those conversations, I’m simply saying that I think we’ve got a good, strong Cabinet team and the Prime Minister’s doing a great job in terms of leading that team and Barnaby Joyce, my leader, is doing a great job of standing up for regional areas.
It is something that I’m obviously very passionate about and it’s good to have Barnaby at the forefront of our team.
Samantha Maiden: There have been also reports in the last week, though, that Barnaby Joyce has plans in place to essentially have a succession plan if he needs to take time out to fight a by-election in the wake of that High Court result. Is it the case that there’s a secret plan to install Nigel Scullion—the fisherman at large, the man who once posed in an avocado calendar—as the leader of the National Party?
Darren Chester: Well, it’s not much of a secret plan. I read that plan in the newspapers, so I’m not sure how secret it is. It’s…
Samantha Maiden: Is it a….
Darren Chester: Well, it’s speculation. I mean Barnaby’s in a position obviously his citizenship issue is before the High Court. I’d love to see that resolved as soon as possible in a positive way. He is a very important part of our team.
Samantha Maiden: Sure, but is Nigel Scullion the candidate if he has to step aside? Is it Nigel Scullion Deputy Prime Minister? I really like the idea, I’ve got to say, probably for all the wrong reasons.
Darren Chester: Well, look, Nigel’s a great mate of mine and Barnaby’s a great mate of mine and I’m not going to speculate on what may or may not happen. I mean the High Court ruling comes down, we hope to get a positive result and then Barnaby continues doing this great job of leading our team. If he doesn’t get a positive result, obviously we’re off to a bi-election and my team—the National Party team, of which there’s 22 of us—will have to resolve our leadership issues then. But…
Samantha Maiden: Okay, but would it be an interim situation? Like, would Nigel just step into the job with the expectation that Barnaby would…
Darren Chester: Look, we are going a long way down a path of hypotheticals, but the fundamental point to remember is Barnaby has enormous support amongst the National Party. If it was that he had to fight a bi-election, we would all be out there en masse fighting for him and fighting with him, and Barnaby would be expected to continue as leader in the longer term. So, whatever happened in the short term, it would be a matter for the party-room to decide. But be under no illusions, Barnaby has great support amongst our team. He has been a terrific leader for the National Party and we are going from strength to strength.
Samantha Maiden: Yeah, and serious issue then, on that. Over the weekend, headlines suggesting that Barnaby Joyce was facing some sort of unspecified personal crisis. Have you seen any evidence that this has been affecting his work, the operations of his office, actually affecting his ability to do his job? He is obviously under a lot of pressure with the High Court and so on. Have you seen any evidence that he is struggling with the job?
Darren Chester: Barnaby is doing a fantastic job as the leader of our party. He is well supported by the whole team. I don’t think there’s been a leader in the National Party in recent history who has been able to raise the profile of our team to such an extent that Barnaby has and been able to deliver everything we promised we would deliver to the Australian people. So, classic example…
Samantha Maiden: Do you think that article was appropriate then? Do you think that the media shouldn’t report on that?
Darren Chester: I’ll get to your point. Just on that Melbourne Brisbane Inland Rail. We have talked about it for decades and Barnaby’s been the leader who’s been able to secure that in coalition with Malcolm Turnbull. Now in terms of the article itself, I think it reflects more poorly on the journalist themselves than anyone else. That journalist will need to decide, are you a gossip columnist or are you a genuine member of the press gallery?
Samantha Maiden: But is it gossip only if it’s not affecting his job? Like you think that this should be off limits essentially.
Darren Chester: Well, I’m sitting here as a Cabinet Minister responsible for $10 billion worth of infrastructure spending this financial year. You could be asking me about projects in all the capital cities, about the Bruce Highway, the Pacific Highway, Inland Rail—they are the things that I’m responsible and they’re the things that people care about. A bit of gossip in a newspaper is something that is beneath commenting on and the journalist involved needs to reflect on whether that is a good way to shape your own career.
Samantha Maiden: Thank you very much for your time today, Darren Chester, we appreciate it.
Darren Chester: Thank you.

 
&..

Radio National Breakfast
Interview
DCI087/2017
23 October 2017
Subject: Airport security

Fran Kelly: The Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester joins us in our Parliament House studios. Minister, welcome back to Breakfast.
Darren Chester: Good morning, Fran.
Fran Kelly: Well, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Why are random security checks of airport staff to find traces of explosives good enough, when crew have to go through compulsory tests like all passengers?
Darren Chester: Well, Fran, with all due respect to Nick Xenophon, I have got the choice here between taking advice from people who are experts in transport security, people who consult with intelligence agencies, or a career politician. Now, I don’t make any apologies for the fact that I have taken advice of the experts and gone forward with the proposal they have put to me around checks—which are both random and unpredictable—and which are aimed at those airside workers, people who have access to the secured area, so people who have an ASIC card, an aviation security identification card, of which there are about 140,000 in Australia at the moment. So I’ve gone with the experts’ advice, and in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s requirements as well around checks, which are both random and unpredictable targeting explosive trace detection.
Fran Kelly: Well, the pilots are saying the same thing. I mean, why are flight crews deemed a bigger risk than ground crew?
Darren Chester: Well, the point I’m making for you, Fran, is that the advice we have received is: you take consideration of the transport security settings, if you take advice from the intelligence agencies, both here in Australia and abroad, and the issue we are trying to deal with is around the so-called insider threat, that being a trusted person who may have access to aircraft. Now, what we are doing is implementing random explosive trace detection testing. Also, in addition to that there’s additional security training for all staff at airports, so they are in a position to be aware of their circumstances, be aware of their surroundings, and perhaps report anything they’re not comfortable with. In addition to that, more screening in terms of during the person actually entering the workforce, but also random checks throughout the day. The randomness and the unpredictability of those checks is in accordance with ICAO’s expectations, the International Organisation’s expectations, and as you’d expect, the Australian Government takes the safety and security of our residents as our highest priority and we are working with security agencies to achieve that.
Fran Kelly: Okay. The Transport Workers’ Union claims it has raised concerns before, for a number of years, about the security implications of high staff turnover at our airports, and they argue that every day, hundreds of workers are accessing secure areas of airports without proper checks and without proper security clearance. Now, you said there already, the security checks are conducted on those who work in secure areas. Practically, what difference will these new measures make?
Darren Chester: Well fundamentally, that claim by the TWU is not true. If you have access to a secured area of an airport, you are subject to having an ASIC card—so, that Aviation Security Identification Card which I referred to earlier—and that means you have had to undertake some background checks. We are making moves right now within the Parliament; we have legislation before the Parliament to toughen that up, to make it even harder to get that ASIC card in the first place. So that’s the first point: you need to have an ASIC before you can work in those secured areas, or you can have a visitor security card, in which case you must be supervised and you can only use that card for 28 days over a 12 month period. So, it’s not true to suggest that people working in secured areas aren’t subject to background checks—they’re subject to them already—but we are actually taking steps to toughen those checks up to make sure that people who have a serious crime background don’t have the capacity to secure an ASIC card in the future. So, people who may have been involved in drug trafficking or even potentially illegal gun importation, they’ll find it impossible to secure an ASIC into the future and we want to work with the unions, work with the Labor Party, to bring those changes into place.
Fran Kelly: So Minister, after that alleged plot was uncovered to put some kind of explosive device on an international flight, there was a lot of talk about tougher checks and tougher measures being put in place. This random explosive checks, what else is being put in place?
Darren Chester: Well, on that point, Fran, the legislation to allow these random checks went through the House in March this year, so long before the alleged terror plot…
Fran Kelly: Okay. So what’s been put in place post that?
Darren Chester: So steps were underway already on expert advice. In relation to the Sydney incident: as you’d be aware, the National Security Committee of Cabinet has met and had discussions about that. I’m obviously not in the position to talk about the discussion that have occurred there, but what you would have seen—if you’re a regular traveller—you would have seen elevated screening activity at our airports, that’d be obvious to anyone travelling through an airport. While admittedly in the aftermath, the security screening was escalated quite dramatically. It has remained at a higher level than it was in the past. Many travellers may have noticed additional canine patrols, so dog patrols around the front of house at our airports.
There are other measures, which will be less obvious to people and happen behind the scenes, and I’m really not in a position to talk about all the security measures that are in place at our airports. But I want to make the fundamental point though, Fran, that the security of the travelling public, the safety of airport workers, is an incredibly high priority for everyone involved in the industry and we need to keep…
Fran Kelly: I’m sure it is.
Darren Chester: and we need to keep the industry working. We need to make sure we have security settings which are proportionate to the risk and at the same time we need to keep people safe.
Fran Kelly: Okay. Well let me ask you, because as I understand it there are still no plans to force all of us who travel on airlines to produce photo ID before boarding domestic flights. Now, at the time the Australian Federal Police, aviation security experts, argued again—and I think they’ve argued before—that identity checks are needed to prevent criminals and fugitives boarding flights under false names. Do you think photo IDs are not needed?
Darren Chester: Well, Fran, strictly from an aviation security perspective, the greatest interest is around what is the person carrying either on their person or amongst their belongings or checked in baggage. So in terms of the screening of baggage and screening of a person, the person’s identity doesn’t really impact on that question of are they safe to get on the plane. So that’s…
Fran Kelly: Well, unless they have got a record in terrorism activities.
Darren Chester: But, the next point is around for…
Fran Kelly: They might miss the random testing.
Darren Chester: Well, can I just finish for a second, Fran. The problem with the Australian licence system in terms of car licence systems is they are individual licence systems in each state and they’re not linked up on any consistent database. So there is no single form of identification available to Australians right now that would meet the standards you’re referring to that you have to provide photo ID before you can get on a plane.
So there’s an active conversation—you have seen the public debate; I’ve been aware of that as well—about whether you need to provide photographic ID for a domestic flight. But in terms of is it safe to travel right now in Australia, I’d say it is. I travel almost on a daily basis and I want to reassure the travelling public that we are doing everything within our power to keep it as safe as it possibly can be. So the question around photo ID for domestic flights is an active conversation within security circles at the moment and I’m looking forward to participating in that debate.
Fran Kelly: Minister, thank you very much for joining us.
Darren Chester: Thanks, Fran. All the best.

Hmm...no comment -



MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

6D AGAD trips the BS meter into extreme


Hmm...I can see why Hitch has been saving this one up, via Oz Flying :

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Darren Chester. (Steve Hitchen)

Chester calls for Industry Unity
3 November 2017
Comments 0 Comments
    0
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester has called for a united aviation industry to help him take action in Canberra.

Speaking at the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) conference on the Gold Coast last week, Chester said fractured opinion was not helping aviation's cause within the halls of Parliament House.

"There's opportunities for [those of] us who are passionate about aviation to focus that passion in a way that we are not ever splintering in the view we take to state and federal governments," he said.

"One of the really difficult things for a minister is to get a consolidated view from industry, and then have to argue that case on their behalf within cabinet at a state or federal level.

"The worst thing we can do is be splintering in a way that lets governments say 'the industry can't agree with itself'. Once we've got that consolidated view, it's a lot easier for your minister, whether it be at state or federal level, to argue the case on your behalf within the cabinet setting."

Chester's mantra on industry unity has been consistent since he took over the portfolio from Warren Truss, telling a forum held in Tamworth in May 2016 that he was getting very different opinions from industry people and he felt this was a challenge for himself as minister.

Even so, Chester went on to say last week that he felt things were looking up for aviation in Australia.

"I'm opimistic; I'm confident about the future," he said, "but I'm not someone who doesn't recognise we've got some challenges.
"I think we're heading in the right direction."

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...oUJWhz9.99

 
No comment, instead I'll quote directly from the - hard hitting, hold no punches - "K" post: Did hoody miss the 0803 from Nadi?

The thing which amazes most is the Hood elevation to ‘top-dog’ ATSB – how, FDS can that be? When the Norfolk ditching is unresolved and don’t, not for a moment think that Manning’s little effort (a 500 page re-hash,-sans all facts) will answer all the questions. It simply will not. It dare not...

...This man lied – several times. John McConvicts pet odalisque ain’t fit, nor proper to be making sanction ‘decisions’ let alone running the nations principal safety agency.



So why is he minister?  If that question is too hard for you to answer – I can, at length, explain it and provide the answer. Your problem then becomes simple; do you really want all of this in the public purview. Yes or No will suffice – we will wait until Sunday. Then, the gloves will come off. That minister, is a promise you can take to the bank.

 
Bring it on "K" -


MTF..P2

[Peetwo]

VOTE 1 Britza for new England -

From ACP, via PRWire:

New England Candidate announces investigation into CASA needed.


Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Australian Country Party candidate for New England Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Mr Britza said 'Its just not on that so much red tape can be put in front of our aviation clubs and businesses. This could have a long term affect on general aviation in this Country, something needs to be done."

Details of the statement are:

The Aviation industry is in serious decline because of unnecessary regulation. Australia is witnessing pilots and businesses exiting the industry in increasing numbers.

Because of this decline there will be serious consequences including employment and infrastructure losses, reducing aviation services in Australia. Allowing the decline to continue could see the end of aviation in Australia.

The Australian Country Party advocates for a full investigation and review of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) that would look at over-regulation, allegations of collusion and process stalling and management of the authority which is responsible for major failings in it’s policies and regulation of the aviation industry. Unnecessary policy and regulation are now crippling flying clubs and small businesses, evidenced with aircraft registrations down 53% and general aviation pilots down 34% in the last 10 years.

Flying clubs provide a starting point for people learning to fly and often the first step towards commercial flying, but over-regulation is forcing these clubs and airfields out of business where only multi-national companies would be able to sustain the increasing regulation requirements. This could eventually force all pilot training offshore.

Over regulation includes the following areas just to name a few:

1.Aviation Medical requirements 
2. Air Operator Certificate regulation and compliance
3.Flight school regulation and compliance
4. Aircraft maintenance regulation and compliance

Adopting the United States or New Zealand approach is a step in the right direction. 

MTF...P2  

[Peetwo]

VOTE 1 Britza for new England -

From ACP, via PRWire:

New England Candidate announces investigation into CASA needed.


Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Australian Country Party candidate for New England Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Mr Britza said 'Its just not on that so much red tape can be put in front of our aviation clubs and businesses. This could have a long term affect on general aviation in this Country, something needs to be done."

Details of the statement are:

The Aviation industry is in serious decline because of unnecessary regulation. Australia is witnessing pilots and businesses exiting the industry in increasing numbers.

Because of this decline there will be serious consequences including employment and infrastructure losses, reducing aviation services in Australia. Allowing the decline to continue could see the end of aviation in Australia.

The Australian Country Party advocates for a full investigation and review of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) that would look at over-regulation, allegations of collusion and process stalling and management of the authority which is responsible for major failings in it’s policies and regulation of the aviation industry. Unnecessary policy and regulation are now crippling flying clubs and small businesses, evidenced with aircraft registrations down 53% and general aviation pilots down 34% in the last 10 years.

Flying clubs provide a starting point for people learning to fly and often the first step towards commercial flying, but over-regulation is forcing these clubs and airfields out of business where only multi-national companies would be able to sustain the increasing regulation requirements. This could eventually force all pilot training offshore.

Over regulation includes the following areas just to name a few:

1.Aviation Medical requirements 
2. Air Operator Certificate regulation and compliance
3.Flight school regulation and compliance
4. Aircraft maintenance regulation and compliance

Adopting the United States or New Zealand approach is a step in the right direction. 

---

Dear ACP,

Your policy about General Aviation is correct;  the administration of aviation, and GA in particular, is a disaster area of monumental proportions with the loss of thousands of jobs. 

For example the Civil Aviation Safety Authority as the independent regulator has been rewriting the rules for almost 30 years as a never ending make work program costing hundreds of $millions.  The latest tranche of new rules are, quoting CASA Chairman Jeff Boyd (Tamworth GA meeting May 2016), “a mess”. 

Pretty good going for a body with great ‘working’ conditions and a CEO on $600,000 pa. still peddling messages about “getting it right”, “evidence based” decision making and the nonsense about “just culture.”

“Just culture” being code for the following;  CASA believes it is the police, judge, jury and executioner and the normal rule of law and proper justice via the courts don’t apply to CASA in its exercise of unfettered power.
 
With respect, unfortunately your policy for a government “heavy industry” is totally at odds with free enterprise and I have to say extremely retrograde. Nationalisation of industry does not work, this notion has gone by way of the Dodo. One only has to view how hopeless is government at running business of any sort and go back to the wreckage of Communism destroying whole economies to wonder how could you wish for such a step backwards. Protectionism and state run industry is counter to freedom and prosperity, these policies conflict with your other policies of private property rights and less government interference. 

I do hope your policies can be changed because you could become a new force, a new wave of responsible government and freeing us from the old Crown model of top down government dishing out “privileges” which are in fact our rights to live and work as a free people. 

You could look to reining in Can’tberra, near 400,000 on wages 42% higher than average and killing free enterprise in this country.

Your policy of a government controlled heavy industry would add enormously to the bureaucracy, please scotch that one, 

Regards,

Sandy Reith 

Retired General Aviation aircraft and airport owner operator, Chief Flying Instructor etc the whole 9 yards in GA. over 50 years watching in dismay the destruction of a perfectly good industry. 

MTF...P2

[thorn bird]

Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Australian Country Party candidate for New England Ian Britza, has today announced a policy statement calling for a full review into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Mr Britza said 'Its just not on that so much red tape can be put in front of our aviation clubs and businesses. This could have a long term affect on general aviation in this Country, something needs to be done."

"Something needs to be done"

We trumpet Australia as being "The Lucky country" that may be true, but are we the smartest?

I would say Lucky we may be, but that luck will one day run out and sooner than anyone may imagine.

Aviation is just one industry amongst a Plethora of industries being hobbled by incompetent self serving Bureaucrats.

We point the finger and rant about the incompetence of our Politicians, for sure they must accept some of the blame for the decent of Australia into its current morass of angst, but they do not make decisions in a vacuum.

They rely on "Advice" to inform their decision making process and much of that advice comes from the ruling class of bureaucrats who once upon a time served the public interest. It is them that decide what is good for us and what is becoming very apparent they are through ineptitude, arrogance, or plain stupidity not doing their job.

Government is charged by the people with managing the country.
In much the same way with a company, a board of directors sets policy and the general direction a company should take, then charges management with the task of implementing that policy and direction.

In the case of Aviation in Australia, inept and incompetent and unqualified management is running the board not the other way round.

The shareholders of this country, "the people" must also bear some responsibility for the foolishness of ruling class. Our apathy enables vocal minority activists to influence political decisions to their views and self interests over the views of the majority, at the same time big business massages the egos and no doubt the bank balances of decision makers to see things their way, the greater good gets left behind in decision making processes.

The mess the country finds itself in with energy policy is a classic example. The most energy rich nation on earth, suddenly finds itself with the most expensive energy on earth. How the hell did that happen?
It didn't happen over night, it happened over an extended period of time. Poor policy heavily influenced by fractious focus groups, inept bureaucrats failing to see and advise of unintended consequences, and lazy politicians until it arrived at the current crisis.

In the same manner over the years CAsA has been left to its own devises completely oblivious to the damage its ineptitude and incompetence was inflicting on an industry, an industry that gave it its whole purpose.
Good policy was subverted by self serving bureaucrats, hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers money thrown away on a folly. Was that smart? I hardly think so.
Here we are today, the foolishness and arrogance of self serving bureaucrats trundling us towards that inevitable precipice.
If, as was mandated all those years ago in the early eighties, we had adopted the US regulations, we would have the safest flying environment on the planet rather than a myth, we would have a vibrant industry contributing to the overall wellbeing of the country, we would have saved the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.

I strongly support an inquiry into CAsA, its ineptitude, its stupidity, its complete and utter failure to comply with government policy, its malfeasance in destroying the hopes and dreams of so many people and its complete failure to achieve any of the benchmarks set for it. They were not charged with the task of destroying an industry, they were charged with regulating to make it as safe as possible. The consequence of their actions have merely made Australia the most expensive country in which to commit aviation with the inevitable unintended consequence of being no safer than anyone else with an impoverished unviable industry.

[P7_TOM]

'Nuff Sed:---

The inescapable conclusion is that today’s political leaders, federal and state, treat taxpayers’ money with contempt. They cultivate a culture which fosters conceit and deflects responsibility for failure. These days, announcements pass for policy. Implementation is for others to worry about.


And we complain about capitalism? Such negligence would see corporate executives fired, sued or in jail and their businesses bankrupted. That’s how the private sector is cleansed.

Except the half billion CASA have squandered making us safe from criminals.  

[Peetwo]

LNP/Nationals with division in the ranks -

There was a rumour going around that in the lead up to the High Court MP citizenship decision, which saw Barnaby being ruled ineligible to be a sitting MP and therefore the parliamentary leader of the Nats, 6D AGAD attempted a leadership coup of his own.

However this attempted coup was fortunately nipped in the bud and this is how that all ended up: (via News.com.au article: Darren Chester is the most senior party MP but hasn’t been made acting Nationals leader)

...HE DOESN’T like the comparison, but there is one National MP shaping up to be the Steven Bradbury of his party.

He is one of the few party leaders still standing after the High Court pileup on Friday scuttled leader Barnaby Joyce and his deputy leader Fiona Nash.

And purists might argue he is the only genuine top-echelon Nat.

Darren Chester, the Minister for Transport, will be the most senior National in the House of Representatives when it returns on November 27, in the absence of Barnaby Joyce.

A cabinet member, he will be the leader of 15 House of Reps MPs in the week before Mr Joyce stands in the New England by-election of December 2, and for the following 10 days at least before the counting of postal votes and the formal declaration of the election result.

That is expected to mean Mr Joyce will miss the final two sitting weeks of the House of Representatives, and that Mr Chester will be carrying the party banner in the Reps.

But he won’t be acting leader of his party. That temporary job has gone to indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, who was elected as a Country Liberal Party candidate in the Northern Territory, and who will lead a total of five National Party senators...

...However, the Labor Opposition could support Government legislation to introduce same sex marriage, should it top the postal survey result to be released on November 15.

This could mean the real mischief, and even chaos, could come from Government MPs opposed to SSM, such as former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Darren Chester will have the task of maintaining discipline among his own troops, particularly those who might think about crossing the floor on issues such as a banking royal commission...

...Meanwhile, Mr Chester has made clear he won’t be involved in any internal National Party skirmishing.

“Obviously we took a blow yesterday with Fiona Nash and Barnaby Joyce being ruled out by the High Court, but we have Nigel Scullion as our interim parliamentary leader, so when Parliament returns Nigel will fulfil that role,” he said Saturday.

“Barnaby will continue as the Leader of the Nationals at large, if you like. I mean, much the same way as Campbell Newman was the leader of the LNP before he was even elected to (state) Parliament.

“We believe Barnaby will be returned in the New England by-election; he’s worked damn hard for that community, he’s worked damn hard for all regional Australians, and we believe that will be recognised in this by-election.”

But now it would seem there is more trouble afoot for 6D AGAD and the revolt is being led by none other than Barry O...

Again via News.com.au:

Gay marriage bill revenge: Conservative plan to launch royal commission into banks

CONSERVATIVE MPs are threatening to launch a royal commission into the banking sector after they were thwarted by a rival gay marriage bill.

Claire Bickers
News Corp Australia Network November 17, 2017 9:58am

• Video
  
• Image
  

A new push to launch a banking royal commission will be a major headache for Malcolm Turnbull if it succeeds. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

CONSERVATIVE MPs are threatening to launch a royal commission into the banking sector after they were thwarted by a rival gay marriage bill.

Turnbull Government Minister Mathias Cormann has already moved to quash the revolt against the government’s position.

The Finance Minister told Sky News even if the bid was successful in parliament, it was up to the government to launch a royal commission.

“The government’s position is that we do not support the establishment of a banking royal commission because it will be an expensive, slow and long-lasting exercise, which won’t actually do anything to improve things for people across Australia,” he said.

It comes after Fairfax Media reported today that conservative senators in the National Party, who felt ambushed by Liberal Senator Dean Smith’s bill to legalise same-sex marriage, were planning use the same tactics to launch a banking royal commission.

It would be hugely embarrassing for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the final sitting weeks of the year if the move succeeded.

Queensland senator Barry O’Sullivan told the Australian Financial Review that he would reveal a private member’s bill to establish the royal commission next Thursday.


Senator Barry O'Sullivan is planning the new push for a royal commission. Picture: Kym SmithSource:News Corp Australia

Labor, the Greens and crossbench senators would co-sponsor the bill, as happened with Senator Dean Smith’s bill to legalise same-sex marriage this week.

The bill would have the numbers to pass the upper house if it was introduced there first.

Senator O’Sullivan may try to introduce it there on the November 27 sitting week but it will have almost no chance to be debated that week while the senate is dealing with the gay marriage bill.

His chances of success are also lower in the House of Representatives where he would need Coalition MPs to cross the floor and go against the government’s position for it to pass.

Fairfax reports senator O’Sullivan is already speaking to Queensland MP George Christensen about whether he will support the move.


George Christensen has threatened to cross the floor over the royal commission in the past. Picture: Kym SmithSource:News Corp Australia

About 10 Coalition senators who opposed the same-sex marriage bill are reportedly behind the push for a royal commission after they were thwarted in their attempt to put forward a rival bill on gay marriage, made public by Liberal senator James Paterson on Monday.

Senator O’Sullivan told Fairfax Media: “We have been treated with contempt rather than harmonise the Smith and Paterson bills.”
[img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/news/content/v2/?t_product=newscomau&t_domain=news.com.au&esi=true&td_part=bottom&td_device=desktop&td_section=national+politics&t_template=s3/ncatemp/index@promo[/img]

In a ABC Lateline interview this was how 6D AGAD tried to downplay this apparent disunity amongst the Conservative National and Coalition backbenchers:

The Late Debate reviews a momentous week in Parliament

(see here from approx. 06:10 - http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/the-late-...in/9164032)
  
Posted Fri 17 Nov 2017, 9:30pm
Updated Sat 18 Nov 2017, 8:34am
Expires: Saturday 17 November 2018 9:30pm

This week, the country voted strongly in support of same-sex marriage, more politicians were caught up in the citizenship saga and two State Governments debated voluntary assisted dying. Matt Wordsworth was joined by Infrastructure Minister and Nationals MP Darren Chester and Shadow Health Minister and Victorian Labor MP Catherine King for our Late Debate.

---

Transcript

...MATT WORDSWORTH: Just on the no voters, there seems to be some discontent within the National backbench - a couple of my colleagues, Anna Henderson and Lucy Barbour, are reporting today that the Nats, led by Queensland Senator Barry O'Sullivan, are planning a backbench bill to establish a royal commission into the banks as retribution over the speed of the Dean Smith bill.

What can you tell me about that?

DARREN CHESTER: Well, it is not the National Party policy and I haven't had any conversations with the two colleagues you've referred to from Queensland. I'm not aware of any other that I've seen in the media today.

Our policy is that the protocols were put in place, the additional resources ...

MATT WORDSWORTH: But are you aware that they are unhappy about the speed, the priority that's been given to the Dean Smith bill because they say there is also a priority among the population for a banking royal commission?

DARREN CHESTER: Well, I would dispute that position in terms of a priority in the community around the banking royal commission.

I have been a Member of Parliament for nine and a half years and I can count on one hand the number of times I have had constituents come to me in relation to the major banks.

There is no doubt that the steps we've taken in terms of the enquiries that have been held, implementation of recommendations to provide greater scrutiny, more accountability for banking executives.

I mean a royal commission would be a very expensive way of finding out exactly what we have already undertaken - that is providing additional resources to make sure the banks are held to account.

Now I'm not aware of the discussions you have referred to, other than to say it is not the National Party policy to have a royal commission into banks.

Although we have a very robust party room and many of my colleagues express views from time-to-time which may not necessarily be the entire policy of the National Party or the Coalition but they are entitled to express their views and they do quite forcefully.

MATT WORDSWORTH: Catherine King is bipartisan on this bill looking a little wobbly?

CATHERINE KING: My view very firmly is the Dean Smith bill, which has been before the Parliament, it has been before a committee, that is the bill that I will be supporting when that comes before the House of Representatives.

I think the country's voted. We need to get this done. I don't want to see any excuse or delay used by the no case and we're seeing, again, a whole raft of break-outs here and there about these issues.

I think it is really important, of course, the Dean Smith bill does provide protections for ministers of religion who choose not to marry same-sex couples and I think anyone who wants to then try and entrench further discrimination beyond religious ministers, I think, frankly, really will struggle to get that through the Parliament as they should.

This is really an issue that the Australia public is expecting us to get done and my view is that we should vote on that at the earliest possible opportunity.

I do think what we are seeing, this is a survey we didn't particularly want, the Labor Party didn't want to go down this pathway, you know, it has done some damage to many of the people, people in the LGBTIQ communities as they have had to have their relationships basically put on public scrutiny and it's been a pretty horrendous process.
I don't think they should be put through anything more. We need to get the Parliament to do its job now.

The Australian people have done theirs but I do think what you are seeing is the problem that you are seeing within the Coalition at the moment, and within the Liberal National Party, is there is a real fight about values at the heart of the Liberal National Party.
And it's been writ large all over the place. It's leading for a bit of chaos frankly and that is probably what you have seen with the notion that there might be a banking royal commission, of course, which is our policy and we would welcome working with the Nats on it.

MATT WORDSWORTH: Darren Chester, is there a battle on behind the scenes in the Coalition?

DARREN CHESTER: Well, there is always a contest of ideas in public life, Matt.
I mean the National Party is a very robust party room.

CATHERINE KING: Spilling out in public.

DARREN CHESTER: Well, there is always a battle of ideas and we discuss the whole range of topics in our party room. We don't need to discuss them live on TV.

MATT WORDSWORTH: Well, Barry O'Sullivan has certainly came out and fired a warning shot it would appear.

DARREN CHESTER: Well, in terms of a royal commission, Matt, let's keep in mind it would cost in the order of $150 million to really establish what's already been undertaken by ...

MATT WORDSWORTH: Well, you spent $122 (million) on the postal survey.

DARREN CHESTER: And that's a fair point you've raised Matt and I have to say that in terms of that, the money spent on the postal survey, and Labor was against it and Labor didn't trust the Australian people to have their say but now having had their say, I think it's been a vindication of the position that I took, in terms of support of same-sex marriage and Catherine took.

I think it gives an extra level of credibility to the national vote in the sense that the people have spoken, the tribe have spoken, if you like and now we need to get on with the job.

MATT WORDSWORTH: So would you encourage Barry O'Sullivan to shelve that private members bill for a banking royal commission?

DARREN CHESTER: Well, I don't know if Barry has even got a private members bill. I have seen newspaper reports.

MATT WORDSWORTH: He certainly is talking about it.

DARREN CHESTER: Well, I've seen newspaper reports, you see media report.

MATT WORDSWORTH: You can trust the ABC, Darren Chester.

DARREN CHESTER: (Laughs) Yes, Matt, I am sure I can but I'm saying I've seen media reports. I haven't had any conversations with Barry about that.

I simply say there is a lot of extra steps, additional protocols, regulations being put in place, to make sure we hold the banks to account and I think the existing changes we've made, the bank chief executives having to appear before the standing committee, the House of Representatives standing committee, the banking executives additional regulations in place, all these have actually been positive steps towards providing that accountability regime which I think was required and is needed.

I'm not sure that spending another $100 million, $150 million on a lawyers' picnic or a royal commission would achieve much at all.

Couple the backbench dissent with the ongoing Senate DW1 inquiry, the Airservices performance inquiry, the dormant Airports Amendment Bill 2016 inquiry and the (new) just announced Senate Inquiry...  (Reference: Senate & RRAT Committee news: 17 Nov '17  & Airservices now 'match fit' and approaching a red dawn horizon)

The operation, regulation and funding of air route service delivery to rural, regional and remote communities, with particular reference to:

(a) social and economic impacts of air route supply and airfare pricing;
(b) different legal, regulatory, policy and pricing frameworks and practices across the Commonwealth, states and territories;
© how airlines determine fare pricing;
(d) the determination of airport charges for landing and security fees, aircraft type and customer demand;
(e) pricing determination, subsidisation and equity of airfares;
(f) determination of regulated routes and distribution of residents' fares across regulated routes;
(g) airline competition within rural and regional routes;
(h) consistency of aircraft supply and retrieval of passengers by airlines during aircraft maintenance and breakdown;
(i) all related costs and charges imposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority; and
(j) any related matters.

Senator O'SULLIVAN (Queensland) (12:18): I seek leave to make a short statement.

The PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute.
Senator O'SULLIVAN: I want to thank the Labor Party for their cooperation and support for the development of this reference, which will be, of course, under the chairmanship of Senator Sterle. This is a very important reference. I am speaking out now to our crossbench colleagues to pay attention to this and support it. This is about trying to bring equity into the cost impacts of regional airline movements for our people in regional Australia, not just my home state of Queensland. We've got some very atrocious examples of gouging where it costs up to $2,000 for people to travel the same distances it costs them $78 to travel between the metros, including people who require constant medical attention and are having to go to the cities. This has to be brought to an end, and we hope this committee reference will take us some way towards being able to make recommendations to government about changes.

Question agreed to.

 
 ...6D AGAD is seriously under siege from his own party while being found to be totally inept in discharging his ministerial duties of overseeing and providing proper governance to the aviation safety bureaucracy...  

Quote from "K" off this week's SBG sums up the current farce frustrating the long suffering aviation industry: Reference - One if by land, two if by sea , three if by pigeon.   
 

...It is time to put an end to this expensive farce. It is time to enforce, vigorously, the recommendations of both the Senate committee and the Rev. Forsyth. ATSB and CASA are charged, by government, to meet the requirements of the Acts which govern them. Both agencies are failing not only to meet the spirit and intent of those Acts, but have perverted the meaning of those Acts to suit. Then, I look at Chester and despair. If it were not for the excellent Senators I’d hang the boots up, retire to being an amiable old buffer who talked to dogs and horses, pottered about the wood shed and threw rocks at drones. Someone, somewhere has to get the agencies back on track, under control and functioning correctly; then; I look at Chester…………

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

Barry O ramps up call for Bank Commission of inquiry -

Via ABC & RN Breakfast...

Banks show 'disregard' for the law, Government MPs may cross the floor to back inquiry

By senior business correspondent Peter Ryan

Updated about 5 hours agoMon 20 Nov 2017, 1:31pm



Photo: Last financial year, those pesky $2 fees 'foreign ATM' fees brought in over half a billion dollars for financial institutions. (AAP)


Pressure for a commission of inquiry into the banking sector is growing, with Nationals senator Barry O'Sullivan warning he might have the numbers to push his private members bill through Parliament.

Key points:

• Banks show a "disregard" for the law, Nationals senator Barry O'Sullivan says
  
• In contrast, the Government has been long resisted calls for a royal commission into the banking sector
  
• Senator O'Sullivan said up to four of his colleagues are willing to cross the floor to bring on this debate
  

The banks "show an an almost autistic disregard for prudential regulation and law and it's time for these people to have their day in court", the senator told ABC's RN Breakfast on Monday.

Senator O'Sullivan said he has support from as many as four colleagues.

These include maverick Liberal National (LNP) MP George Christensen, who has already threatened to cross the floor, and fellow Queensland LNP MP Llew O'Brien, who has indicated "50-50" support.

An embarrassment for the Government

While a commission of inquiry would be an embarrassment for the Turnbull Government given its resistance to a royal commission, Senator O'Sullivan said it was time for the Prime Minister to listen.

"There's no more important piece of business — millions and millions of Australians have been affected by the behaviour of the banks over time," he said.

"The people of Australia are sick to their eye teeth of the Parliament not functioning.

"If both houses of Parliament think this is a good thing to do … then I think the Prime Minister has to … sit up and take note of that, and support the parliamentary decision."
But Senator O'Sullivan refused to comment on whether his move would embarrass and further destabilise the Prime Minister.

"I am not going to be drawn on the question of the impacts on the Prime Minister and the Government — this is about democracy at work."

O'Sullivan 'committed to this course'

The proposed commission of inquiry would have similar powers to a royal commission.
It would also look beyond banking and include superannuation, insurance and services associated with the scandal-plagued sector.

While a royal commission needs to be established by the executive, a commission of inquiry can be passed if both houses of parliament agree.

However, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has today emailed crossbenchers to inform them that the Lower House will resume sitting on December 4.

Profit at what cost?



The latest allegations against the Commonwealth Bank highlight a deeply disturbing failure, Ian Verrender writes.

This timing coincides with the New England by-election, scheduled for December 2, which is expected to return former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce to office.

After that, it would take three MPs to cross the floor to bring on debate for a commission of inquiry in the Lower House, raising the potential vote of no confidence in the Government.

"A commission of inquiry can be decided by the parliament and I expect it will be binding on the executive of government. And I think the parliament is an appropriate place for a commission of inquiry to report back to," Senator O'Sullivan said.

"We are after all the legislators, and we are the ones who'll have to bring out legislation and regulation, prudential and otherwise.

"So I think [members of Parliament] … are the appropriate people to receive the report."
Senator O'Sullivan maintained that his private members bill has a good chance of being approved.

"A bill produced by the Greens made its way through the Senate without any difficulty, and my ambition is to ensure all that they want in an inquiry is homogenised into the bill that I'm developing," he said.

"I'm committed to this course now, and I have been for some period of time.

"There hasn't been a pathway before, so there are a number of us who are very keen on this issue and I think it's timely."

Senator O'Sullivan said an updated exposure draft of the bill could emerge on Wednesday or Thursday to deal with protections for small business and the rural sector in the terms of reference.

'No evidence' to justify a commission of inquiry

Australian Bankers Association chief executive Anna Bligh argued Senator O'Sullivan has not provided any evidence to justify a commission of inquiry or the estimated $53 million cost of a royal commission.

"As yet no one has seen legislation from Senator O'Sullivan and nobody knows what terms of reference he might be proposing, so it's impossible to comment," Ms Bligh said.

Ms Bligh accused Senator O'Sullivan and his supporters of "seeking revenge" because "they didn't get their way in the same-sex marriage debate".

"That's an extraordinary way to make public policy.

"Taking the first opportunity to go in and do something that would critically destabilise the Government I think will be seen for what it is."

Ms Bligh said the major banks would cooperate with any inquiry, but said customers had already been compensated for major scandals such as CommInsure.

Last week, former ANZ Bank chief executive Mike Smith said banks were being used by the Government as political capital saying "when you want to get mob interest you turn on the banks — Hitler did it."

Ms Bligh described Mr Smith's comments as "colourful" but agreed "there has been a level of demonisation in relation to banks that is unnecessary and unhelpful".

---

Deep divisions within the Turnbull Government over banking inquiry

• Listen(Link will open in new window)
  
• Download
  

It's payback time for the government over the same-sex marriage legislation with the Nationals pushing a private member's bill that would establish a Commission of Inquiry into the banks.

MTF...P2

[Kharon]

Hot news from the Willyleaks network.

From a source buried deep within the bowels of a Quango; cunningly disguised as a Pineapple.. 

The Australian minister for transport, Daren Chester is expected to make an announcement later today which will set a new precedent in Australian law. This ground breaking study has been completed and trialled by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), under the guidance of Dr. Jonathan Aleck (somnambulance specialist) and is expected to rock the legal world.

Thank you for your enquiry.

I have not been able to locate a signed copy of the SFR.

However, as stated by Adam Anastasi in his email to you dated 27 October 2017, even if the delegate had not signed the SFR, the fact of the delegate sending the decision letter to you on 24 December 2009 would clearly have signified that the delegate accepted the recommendations in the SFR.  

No longer need any official document be signed – Doc Aleck hinted at this breakthrough during a Senate committee Estimates meeting; which may yet embarrass Carmody.  Little did they know that soon, the minister, sighting the great savings in time and cost as motivation, would announce to the world that only the ‘intent’ as specified in the missive would suffice to make the document legal and binding. What a great step forward. We await, with great anticipation the ministers announcement and the response from the legal community. Pilots await this to become official as it will reduce the paper work load considerably and release them from criminal charges being brought under strict liability.

Bravo minister; at last you have accomplished something useful to the aviation industry. Fame at last eh? betcha that feels just Dandy.

_*_*_*_*_*

Although it’s not yet April 1; we all must hope that is not a prank, perpetrated by the impish sense of humour of the CASA legal department; who may just be having a quiet chuckle in the tea room.

Oh my giddy Aunt – is the pub open yet? Perhaps a few ales will stop me laughing – at least while I drink ‘em.  They cannot possibly be serious - can they?

Toot, chuckle, toot, chuckle, toot chuckle; toot toot toot………..

[Peetwo]

Kaz Casey getting fired up on twitter...

Our re-selected DP & his photographer, Minister for Transport, Mr Chester. They expect respect, our trust & a huge salary paid by their public, while they take piss on their citizens concernsYes, this did happen. Main stream, where are you?

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&..

You bet they are! Stakeholders before Safety! We have a below standard Aviation Safety portfolio (ample evidence)...yet their Legal skills are extraordinary. More $$ spent each year on Legals than Safety. That's the problem w/ Statutes. They're untouchable.
Karen Casey added,

PAIN_NET @PAIN_NET1

Plane crash review: Are Australia's aviation bureaucrats endangering lives? https://independentaustralia.net/busines...m8.twitter … @IndependentAus

8:09 AM - 11 Dec 2017

Oh Dear Chester what haven't you done...

MTF...P2

Ps Anyone else notice that 6D_AGAD_Chester got passed up again by BJ for the deputy slot...

[Peetwo]

Miniscule 6D AGAD Chester bellys up at West Sale -

Looks like the story has got out now...

Via the Oz:

‘Wheels-up’ landing puts air safety minister’s flight in peril

Transport Minister Darren Chester.

The type of Cessna 337 light plane involved in the incident.

• 12:00AM December 15, 2017
  
• [size=undefined]
  
  Political reporter
  Canberra
  The cabinet minister responsible for air safety was involved in a “wheels-up” landing after the pilot became distracted by a mobile phone and failed to lower the landing gear, in what the regulator dubbed a “serious incident”.
  
  Transport Minister Darren Chester was travelling in the back seat of the light plane on a Nov­ember 10 flight from Essendon to West Sale in regional Victoria. He realised the pilot had not lowered the wheels only when he heard the belly of the Cessna 337 scraping along the runway.
  
  The incident was reported immediately to transport safety regulators, who were faced with the unusual decision of considering whether to mount an investigation into an incident involving their own minister.
  
  The Australian Transport Safety Bureau categorised the mishap as a “serious incident” and concluded that an accident had nearly occurred, although it decided not to pursue the issue, while a separate report was also filed with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
  
  
  “During approach, the crew did not extend the landing gear resulting in a wheels-up landing. The aircraft sustained minor damage,” the ATSB report found.
  
  The Australian understands the light plane skidded for up to 250m and its rear propeller made very light contact with the ground. Mr Chester said the incident lasted for only a matter of seconds.
  
  “It was surprisingly smooth and the only time I became aware that something had gone wrong was when I heard the noise of the fuse­lage making contact with the runway,” he told The Australian.
  
  The plane belongs to and was piloted by Mark Noble, the director of Bairnsdale Air Charter, which has been operating in the Gippsland region since 1966.
  
  The Australian has confirmed the company was not the operator for the November 10 flight involving Mr Chester.
  
  Mr Noble is well known to Mr Chester, who yesterday confirmed he had flown with him on hundreds of occasions, saying the pilot had accumulated about 9000 hours in the air.
  
  “I regard him as a highly capable and professional pilot and I look forward to flying with him again. He indicated he made a mistake and fortunately neither of us was injured,” Mr Chester said.
  
  The Australian has confirmed that Mr Noble became distracted when his mobile phone rang upon descent to the West Sale Aerodrome and filed a report with the ATSB and CASA indi­cating this.
  
  It is understood that Mr Noble did not answer the phone calls, but became distracted by how loud the ringtone on the phone was.
  
  “The pilot indicated he has appropriate protocols in place not to take phone calls during landing but he failed to switch off his phone — it’s just a simple case of human error,” Mr Chester said.
  
  “He had the right policies in place, but the phone wasn’t turned off.”
  
  He played down the incident, saying it was an “amazingly calm” and “uneventful” landing.
  
  Mr Noble said he had reviewed his protocols to ensure a similar incident did not recur: “Basically, the phone is disconnected from the top of descent. And then they are rechecked at 1000 feet where, as before, they were disconnected at 1000 feet.”
  
  He said he was distracted by the ringtone’s volume. “It was turned up full,” he said. “It automatically connects to the audio system if the bluetooth is turned on. It just about blew my eardrums out and I went to turn it off ... It was very distracting.”
  
  The plane was jacked up and its wheels lowered so it could be moved off the runway.[/size]

&.. from the O&O thread: ATCB O&O investigation No: AO-2015-007

  5 hours ago">Copy of ATSBSearchResults.xlsx (Size: 125.43 KB / Downloads: 4)      

Ps.

Plane carrying federal transport minister in serious safety scare

A plane carrying the federal transport minister has been involved in a serious safety scare.

 
 

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

Update: 17/12/17 - Chester bellys up at West Sale.

‘Wheels-up’ landing puts air safety minister’s flight in peril

Transport Minister Darren Chester.

The type of Cessna 337 light plane involved in the incident.

• 12:00AM December 15, 2017
  
• [size=undefined]
  
  Political reporter
  Canberra
  The cabinet minister responsible for air safety was involved in a “wheels-up” landing after the pilot became distracted by a mobile phone and failed to lower the landing gear, in what the regulator dubbed a “serious incident”.
  
  Transport Minister Darren Chester was travelling in the back seat of the light plane on a Nov­ember 10 flight from Essendon to West Sale in regional Victoria. He realised the pilot had not lowered the wheels only when he heard the belly of the Cessna 337 scraping along the runway.
  
  The incident was reported immediately to transport safety regulators, who were faced with the unusual decision of considering whether to mount an investigation into an incident involving their own minister.
  
  The Australian Transport Safety Bureau categorised the mishap as a “serious incident” and concluded that an accident had nearly occurred, although it decided not to pursue the issue, while a separate report was also filed with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
  
  
  “During approach, the crew did not extend the landing gear resulting in a wheels-up landing. The aircraft sustained minor damage,” the ATSB report found.
  
  The Australian understands the light plane skidded for up to 250m and its rear propeller made very light contact with the ground. Mr Chester said the incident lasted for only a matter of seconds.
  
  “It was surprisingly smooth and the only time I became aware that something had gone wrong was when I heard the noise of the fuse­lage making contact with the runway,” he told The Australian.
  
  The plane belongs to and was piloted by Mark Noble, the director of Bairnsdale Air Charter, which has been operating in the Gippsland region since 1966.
  
  The Australian has confirmed the company was not the operator for the November 10 flight involving Mr Chester.
  
  Mr Noble is well known to Mr Chester, who yesterday confirmed he had flown with him on hundreds of occasions, saying the pilot had accumulated about 9000 hours in the air.
  
  “I regard him as a highly capable and professional pilot and I look forward to flying with him again. He indicated he made a mistake and fortunately neither of us was injured,” Mr Chester said.
  
  The Australian has confirmed that Mr Noble became distracted when his mobile phone rang upon descent to the West Sale Aerodrome and filed a report with the ATSB and CASA indi­cating this.
  
  It is understood that Mr Noble did not answer the phone calls, but became distracted by how loud the ringtone on the phone was.
  
  “The pilot indicated he has appropriate protocols in place not to take phone calls during landing but he failed to switch off his phone — it’s just a simple case of human error,” Mr Chester said.
  
  “He had the right policies in place, but the phone wasn’t turned off.”
  
  He played down the incident, saying it was an “amazingly calm” and “uneventful” landing.
  
  Mr Noble said he had reviewed his protocols to ensure a similar incident did not recur: “Basically, the phone is disconnected from the top of descent. And then they are rechecked at 1000 feet where, as before, they were disconnected at 1000 feet.”
  
  He said he was distracted by the ringtone’s volume. “It was turned up full,” he said. “It automatically connects to the audio system if the bluetooth is turned on. It just about blew my eardrums out and I went to turn it off ... It was very distracting.”
  
  The plane was jacked up and its wheels lowered so it could be moved off the runway.[/size]

&.. from the O&O thread: ATCB O&O investigation No: AO-2015-007

  5 hours ago">Copy of ATSBSearchResults.xlsx (Size: 125.43 KB / Downloads: 4)      

Ps.

Plane carrying federal transport minister in serious safety scare

A plane carrying the federal transport minister has been involved in a serious safety scare.

Comments via the Oz:

Alexander2 DAYS AGO


Very odd that this has remained under wraps until now or is it? Wouldn’t be Minister Chester trying to avoid light shining on his aviation rules expert body CASA or the accident investigator ATSB would it? The CASA that’s still in a colossal 30 yr make work program costing several hundred $million and killed off General Aviation in the process. The snail’s pace ATSB that has had to have the Australian Senate make it redo its faulty reporting and led to the Canadian safety investigator being called in to review same. Alex in the Rises

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Alexander2 DAYS AGO


PS, sorry for Mr. Noble, very embarrassing. All such retractable wheels type aircraft have an audible warning horn system which sounds off when the power levers are reduced for landing and most times this will alert the pilot in time to avoid humiliation. Unfortunately the nature of controlling your flight path to a safe landing might mean carrying more power close to touch down and the warning then is too late. In this technically innovative era there could be means to overcome many such system deficiencies but in the General Aviation industry that is dying by a thousand regulatory cuts combined with CASA fee gouging and hopeless administration there’s little room or appetite for innovation. Never mind, at least it’s all ‘jobs and growth’ in Can’tberra, pop. near 400,000 and 1,200 Commonwealth instrumentalities. Alex again

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Rod2 DAYS AGO


Proof indeed that the minister wouldn’t recognize an aircraft if it fell on him. just another one of a series presiding over the demise of the GA industry...

FLAGSHARE

7LIKEREPLY

Chris2 DAYS AGO


@Rod “Proof indeed”??? I wasn’t aware that passengers could be held accountable for aircraft incidents.

FLAGSHARE

LIKEREPLY

[size=undefined]




Ted2 DAYS AGO



Chris, Rod is saying that it would be nice, some would say essential, that the minister for aviation knows a bit about flying and is on top of his portfolio.
The way CASA is run , one would assume that’s not the case.[/size]

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Alexander2 DAYS AGO


PPS To those who have no direct knowledge of General Aviation (GA) flying and are reading some uncompromising criticisms of the pilot. Firstly, having had a pilot career in GA for more than 50 yrs, and having being personally involved in two wheels up landings, I have never heard of a person being injured in such cases. Quite different to larger aircraft, airliners wheels up landings are definitely high risk. Secondly to handle an aircraft to a safe landing may require, at times, a great level of skill. A gusting crosswind, visibility in rain, fluctuating wind direction, turbulence and wind shear, other traffic and radio chatter are some major concerns that might cause the pilot to prioritise his concentration on handling and in the process not make the final wheels check. It’s called human nature and I suggest it’s better to realise that no one is infallible; blame, shame and stomp on the pilot might be good for ego but will do nothing to diminish the risks. Actually wrong psychology probably increases the risk.

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B J2 DAYS AGO


@Alexander  It also goes against the no-blame self-reporting of all incidents culture that has made our skies infinitely safer.

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Owen2 DAYS AGO


@B J @Alexander You reckon the pilot would have to 'self report' this event? No one would have noticed anything unusual? Pull the other leg - it yodels![/size]

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Ted2 DAYS AGO



Alexander, 300 feet, Stable approach, runway clear, pitch, undercarriage flap.
That’s the call, says it all really
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Owen2 DAYS AGO


@Alexander So the next time I fly, do you think I should insist the cabin crew check with the pilot to see that he has not been so distracted that he has omitted some one or more essential actions?  i'm be ginning to think walking (even on our rather dangerous roads) may be preferable![/size]

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B J2 DAYS AGO



@Owen @B J @Alexander  1) pretty hard to hide a Skymaster sitting on its belly.
2) Yes, pilots do, including lapses in concentration. The reason for no blame reporting is to be able to do "Root Cause Analysis (ICAM...)" of incidents to prevent their recurrence. [/size]

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Botswana O'Hooligan2 DAYS AGO


A prudent aviator turns his/her mobile communications device to "off" ere walking out to the machine and leaves it "off" until after walking well away from the machine after arrival. It is called common sense or stuff called airmanship if one wants to use fancy words. From engine/s start to transition, or to a safe level in lighties on the way up and down it is also prudent to maintain a sterile cockpit, one without idle chit chat or distractions because aviating can be a serious business and the method of stopping using the underbelly instead of wheels is passe on account of friction you understand.

MTF...P2

[Cap'n Wannabe]

From the ABC...(and facebook!)

Barnaby Joyce set to become infrastructure minister in Cabinet reshuffle
By political reporter Lucy Barbour

Tue 19 Dec 2017, 6:26am



Photo: The move will give Mr Joyce control of the inland rail project. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
Related Story: Brandis off to London, sparking pre-Christmas Cabinet reshuffle

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is expected to take on the infrastructure portfolio when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announces his Cabinet reshuffle, as early as today.

The Nationals leader currently has responsibility for agriculture, but has been eyeing off the infrastructure job for months.

The move will give him control of the Federal Government's multi-billion-dollar inland rail project.

Mr Joyce would take the job from Victorian Nationals heavyweight Darren Chester, who has been a strong supporter of same-sex marriage and pushed for more women to take on senior positions in the party.

It is not yet clear who will become agriculture minister or whether Mr Chester will remain in Cabinet.

National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar would not speculate on likely candidates to replace Mr Joyce, but said the reshuffle was "pretty bloody important".

"Looking forward, if we're going to be a $100 billion industry, it's got to be somebody that has the capacity and the willingness to go into bat on all of these issues that we know are going to allow us to take that next step," he said.

Tension on the track



The Melbourne-to-Brisbane inland rail line is touted as a nation-building infrastructure project that will bring huge benefits to the bush. But the $10 billion venture won't save all the dying, tiny towns along its route.

New Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie will be catapulted from the backbench into Cabinet and has been heavily involved in senate inquiries into agriculture issues in the past.

Senator McKenzie's promotion meant there were three Victorian Nationals in senior positions — which angered some Queenslanders in the party.

The Nationals lost a seat in Parliament when Ms Nash was disqualified by the High Court, but the party is confident it will retain five cabinet spots in the reshuffle.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter is tipped to become the attorney-general and regional Liberal Dan Tehan looks set to be promoted to Cabinet.

[Peetwo]

From the ABC...(and facebook!)

Barnaby Joyce set to become infrastructure minister in Cabinet reshuffle
By political reporter Lucy Barbour

Tue 19 Dec 2017, 6:26am



Photo: The move will give Mr Joyce control of the inland rail project. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
Related Story: Brandis off to London, sparking pre-Christmas Cabinet reshuffle

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is expected to take on the infrastructure portfolio when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announces his Cabinet reshuffle, as early as today.

The Nationals leader currently has responsibility for agriculture, but has been eyeing off the infrastructure job for months.

The move will give him control of the Federal Government's multi-billion-dollar inland rail project.

Mr Joyce would take the job from Victorian Nationals heavyweight Darren Chester, who has been a strong supporter of same-sex marriage and pushed for more women to take on senior positions in the party.

It is not yet clear who will become agriculture minister or whether Mr Chester will remain in Cabinet.

National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar would not speculate on likely candidates to replace Mr Joyce, but said the reshuffle was "pretty bloody important".

"Looking forward, if we're going to be a $100 billion industry, it's got to be somebody that has the capacity and the willingness to go into bat on all of these issues that we know are going to allow us to take that next step," he said.

Tension on the track



The Melbourne-to-Brisbane inland rail line is touted as a nation-building infrastructure project that will bring huge benefits to the bush. But the $10 billion venture won't save all the dying, tiny towns along its route.

New Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie will be catapulted from the backbench into Cabinet and has been heavily involved in senate inquiries into agriculture issues in the past.

Senator McKenzie's promotion meant there were three Victorian Nationals in senior positions — which angered some Queenslanders in the party.

The Nationals lost a seat in Parliament when Ms Nash was disqualified by the High Court, but the party is confident it will retain five cabinet spots in the reshuffle.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter is tipped to become the attorney-general and regional Liberal Dan Tehan looks set to be promoted to Cabinet.

& also via the Oz:

Conservative Liberals the big winners in Turnbull’s reshuffle


Christian Porter will replace George Brandis as attorney-general. Picture: Kym Smith

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...Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce will, as revealed by The Australian, take over the critical transport and infrastructure portfolios from Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester in an attempt to boost the government’s stocks in regional Australia.

There was speculation last night that Mr Chester would be dumped from cabinet by Mr Joyce to make way for another Nationals MP, with the junior Coalition partner set to retain its quota of five cabinet positions. This would leave Mr Joyce, who has ultimate say over which Nationals MPs go into cabinet, to try to resolve demands by the Queensland Nationals for greater representation...

Excellent catch Cap'n...   Maybe (or maybe not) MT and BJ have finally realised how much of a liability the 'photogenic filter' 6D AGAD Chester truly is?

While on the subject of deckchair shuffles on the HMAS (Titanic) Turnbull I note that yesterday, with the standard no fanfare for matters aviation safety, 6D AGAD put out this presser...

Key Appointments to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Media Release
DC448/2017
18 December 2017

• Ms Jane McAloon appointed as new member to the Board of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority
  
• Ms Anita Taylor re-appointed to the Board
  
• Appointments maintain safety and aviation industry experience on the CASA Board, whilst enhancing governance expertise
  

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester today announced appointments to provide support and stability to the operations of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

Mr Chester said the appointment of Ms Jane McAloon as a Board member will bring a wealth of relevant Board and governance experience to the role, including working in regulated industries in the public and private sector in transport and infrastructure.

Ms Anita Taylor's re-appointment will retain general aviation industry and financial management experience on the Board including in her capacity as Chair of the Board Audit Committee.

“These appointments will support critical reforms underway at CASA, and completion of the remaining parts of CASA's regulatory reform program,” Mr Chester said.

“A further Board member with aviation experience is also expected to be announced early in 2018.

“I would like to thank Mr Ian Smith AM and Mr Murray Warfield for their valuable contribution to the CASA Board over the past three years.

“I look forward to the Board continuing to set the strategic direction of CASA, while also working with the diverse aviation sector to maintain Australia's strong safety record,” Mr Chester said.

More information about the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is available at www.casa.gov.au.

  
No idea what it all means, other than hopefully the last hurrah for Chester, but for those interested here is a short BIO for Ms Jane McAloon:

Ms Jane F. McAloon - BEc (Hons), LLB, GDipGov, FAICD, FCIS Jane brings a wealth of commercial experience from her work in highly regulated industries including rail, energy, infrastructure and resources sectors. In her executive career, Jane held senior executive positions at BHP Billiton and AGL, as well as in NSW State Government.

Current Directorships:

• Director: EnergyAustralia Holdings Limited (from 2012)
  
• Member: Monash University Industry Council of Advisers (from 2014)
  
• Member: Referendum Council (from 2015)
  
• Director: Australian Defence Force Assistance Trust (from 2015)
  
• Director: Cosgate Ltd (from 2017)
  
• National Chair: Defence Reserves Support Council (from 2017)
  

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[b]Former Directorships include[/b][/size][/size]

• Member: Australian War Memorial Council (2011 – 2014)
  
• Member: Australian Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (2011 – 2013)
  

MTF...P2

[Kharon]

Lights, camera – Um - action?

Sunday is always (nearly) ‘admin’ day for AP; tidy up session and filing. Not often I look forward to doing the necessary, I begrudge the time but needs must etc. On Sunday the shameful saga of Daren 6D-AGAD will be rightfully consigned to the Hall of Shame, where it truly belongs. The Chester ‘era’ will forever be known as one of the most shameful, destructive, deceitful useless periods in the long, sad, sorry history of ministerial ineptitude in relation to matters aeronautical. I don’t understand how he dare show his face in public. Anyway – he’s gone; a gentle riddance.  


A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go.
Let all of his complexion choose me so.

And so; we enter the Barnaby era

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
there was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
no stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat

The opening line to the poem ‘Casey at the bat’ (Thayer) “The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;” seems somewhat prophetic for the aviation industry, the team in all kinds of bother and all hope pinned on ‘Casey’. But Joyce has available to him the same tools Chester had; we must hope he has the good sense to use them, properly and intelligently. Joyce has an excellent, united, educated RRAT committee which can provide intelligent briefing and sound advice. Joyce has available to him Sen. David Fawcett and the Rev. Forsyth, both of whom are excellent, far seeing, honest men. Should Joyce win industry confidence then he will be positioned to be one of the best ‘ministers’ in the history of aviation.

The big question is will he use the tools available or will he simply slip into the lazy ways of his predecessor and follow the slippery advice of snake oil salesmen, charlatans and ‘quack’ doctors? All to play for. Joyce is going to be a busy man – he will need good advice, there are only two taps at the bar; only one provides sparkling ale. Your shout minister – choose your poison..

Toot toot.

[P7_TOM]

There are posts which are worthy of cribbing – then, there are posts which, in a nutshell, say all that needs to be said. Lead Sled, at cobbed throttle; spot on:-

Sunfish. This is one time I am going to have to disagree with you, and I am speaking from the point of view of "being there". As "on the spot", "in the room" (or wherever we were), often with the only notes taken by the Minister and/or me, or a colleague with me.

Both Sharp and Vaile set things up so the real decisions were made without the "benefit" of set-piece formal meeting with "industry", the basic program was set before the end 1996 elections. Look up "Soaring into Tomorrow.

Interestingly, John Anderson followed the same pattern, with a "big bang" shakeup of CASA planned, but he got blown out of the water by OPM&C politics, John Howard got cold feet, even though Kim Beazley supported the plan, he had no time for CASA either, based on his Ministerial experiences.

I have a far better opinion of Anderson as a Minister than most, because I know what he wanted to do would have sorted the CASA KULTCHA once and for all --- essentially a "scorched earth" and start again approach.

Interestingly Martin Ferguson, and principal and aviation advisors agreed, that the problems in CASA were so intractable and so entrenched, that anything less drastic would fail. How do I know, because I discussed the matter at length with them.

And look where we are, all these years later!!

Tootle pip!

John Sharp is running rings around ‘the system’ – could not beat it, so now he exploits it. Lessons learnt; well done that man.

[P7_TOM]

Credit:-

Where and when due. Our old mate Chester may not have been great shakes for aviation – to put it mildly. However, as a Victorian Mp, with some clout, he has done well for his State during this crisis and; further to his credit has not grandstanded or tried to make political mileage form his efforts.

Bravo that man; well done. Respect earned and freely given.

Regards…..Aunt Pru.

[Kharon]

In the land of the 'fair-go'.

Thoroughly democratic darts match last evening; Darren Chester MP the main topic. It is an interesting 'forum' a few Ales, relaxed pace of conversation, concentration on the game and good company allows time to consider the arguments put forward. And there were many, both pro and con. At the end of the shift I recorded the resolution, to wit:-

The 4D Chester thread will be resurrected as it stands, the gross errors of the past cannot be simply wiped away; however as it is widely believed that the MP was lumbered with probably the worst 'advice' and adviser possible and had no previous idea or experience of the aviation industry's problems; then a reset of attitude and credit would be allowed. This in the name of a fair go.

Chester's opening gambit in defence of Mallacoota aerodrome and the community _ HERE _ and the promise to take the matter up with the incumbent minister is a good place to begin. B. Joyce Esq left behind a SoE which had both legs and teeth, it provides a solid platform for those now in opposition to take the government to task. Reform of the aviation 'safety agencies' and the way they conduct business is long overdue. Perhaps the MP may even become a champion for that part of the industry which does not provide 'scheduled' services, there's real mileage there.

The Mallacoota situation could/should be quickly resolved, particularly in light of the CASA statements relating to exemption etc.

"CASA said grant options and exemptions were offered to smaller aerodromes, though the council did not apply for either on behalf of the Mallacoota Airport."

"Grandfathering provisions applied to existing facilities, including Mallacoota Airport, so smaller aerodromes did not need costly work to meet the new standards,"

"No infrastructure changes were required as part of the transition process."

It may even be as straightforward as sorting out the local council and having a chat with CASA. We shall see.

And so we wish Chester MP 'bon-chance' and as much real world advice as he can handle.

Toot - toot....

[Peetwo]

Perhaps a non-partisan Parliamentary solution -  

Ref:

In the land of the 'fair-go'.

Thoroughly democratic darts match last evening; Darren Chester MP the main topic. It is an interesting 'forum' a few Ales, relaxed pace of conversation, concentration on the game and good company allows time to consider the arguments put forward. And there were many, both pro and con. At the end of the shift I recorded the resolution, to wit:-

The 4D Chester thread will be resurrected as it stands, the gross errors of the past cannot be simply wiped away; however as it is widely believed that the MP was lumbered with probably the worst 'advice' and adviser possible and had no previous idea or experience of the aviation industry's problems; then a reset of attitude and credit would be allowed. This in the name of a fair go.

Chester's opening gambit in defence of Mallacoota aerodrome and the community _ HERE _ and the promise to take the matter up with the incumbent minister is a good place to begin. B. Joyce Esq left behind a SoE which had both legs and teeth, it provides a solid platform for those now in opposition to take the government to task. Reform of the aviation 'safety agencies' and the way they conduct business is long overdue. Perhaps the MP may even become a champion for that part of the industry which does not provide 'scheduled' services, there's real mileage there.

The Mallacoota situation could/should be quickly resolved, particularly in light of the CASA statements relating to exemption etc.

"CASA said grant options and exemptions were offered to smaller aerodromes, though the council did not apply for either on behalf of the Mallacoota Airport."

"Grandfathering provisions applied to existing facilities, including Mallacoota Airport, so smaller aerodromes did not need costly work to meet the new standards,"

"No infrastructure changes were required as part of the transition process."

It may even be as straightforward as sorting out the local council and having a chat with CASA. We shall see.

And so we wish Chester MP 'bon-chance' and as much real world advice as he can handle.

Toot - toot....

It only takes one brief look at the CV of 4D's former Senior Aviation adviser to understand why the advice given to former miniscule 4D was perhaps tainted and bias towards the CASA Iron ring...

Civil Aviation Safety Authority
2 yrs 8 mos

Manager, Part 61 taskforce, Part 141/142Manager,
Oct 2015 - Mar 2016 · 6 mos
Canberra, Australia

Manager of CASR Part 141/142 review team.
Standards Officer (Large aeroplanes)
Aug 2013 - Oct 2015 · 2 yrs 3 mos

Providing policy guidance and regulation development for the CASR operations suite of regulations.

Followed up by a stint a year later as Senior Aviation adviser to none other than the former CASA CEO St Commode:

Senior Aviation Adviser-Office of the CEO
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Oct 2017 - May 2018 · 8 mos
Canberra, Australia

So perhaps in hindsight 4D has since realised that he was poorly advised and misled by a CASA biased adviser??

Next I draw attention to this excellent Lead Balloon UP post and observation about the current make up of the Parliament:

..What needs first to be done is actually slowly happening: The percentage vote for the major parties is diminishing, with the current government having been elected on its worst primary vote ever. A couple of coronaries or defections and the House of Reps becomes interesting.

Giving the major parties and their camp followers alternating turns at pillaging the common wealth, having fine-tuned the senior bureaucracy to assist it to happen or sit mute and watch while it happens, is not in the national interest. (It is of course happening in the States, too, which are, after all, the breeding grounds for the major party 'talent' that 'rises' to Federal level.)

While ever we keep giving the major parties turns at pillaging the common wealth, they are not really 'accountable'. Sooner or later, a 'sacked' government and its camp followers come back or are taken care of, very nicely thank you very much, by a subsequent government of the same flavour. Corruption investigation bodies have demonstrably brought some of these people to account at a State level. So I say: bring it on at the Federal level. The more of these people having party meetings in gaol and the more people who truly represent the interests of their constituents in Parliament the better it will be for the common wealth, including for the health of general aviation...

Which brings me back to when 4D 1st became the Minister overseeing aviation to which he had apparently good intentions, via LMH: http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/...n-exposure

"...His electorate of Gippsland includes Latrobe Regional Airport, home to GA manufacturer Mahindra Aerospace: GippsAero to the purists. GippsAero has been going through some tougher times of late, with flagging sales and delayed certification for the turbo-prop Airvan 10. Although it is a bit much to expect the minister to do anything about soft markets and stiff competition, having their local MP step into the job already infused with the challenges facing the company can only be good for GippsAero. The last thing any MP wants is job losses in their own backyard.

Chester is also a customer of general aviation, plying the sky between Canberra and Lakes Entrance in a chartered Piper Seneca regularly. Now the pilot knows he is ferrying the minister around, you can bet there will be some interesting conversations in the headphones high above the Monaro ... if there haven't been already. This is "coal-face" input at its best. Every time he straps in, Chester will be shown the inherent value of general aviation and there's no doubt the ramifications of an industry collapse will be apparent to him. It's a long drive even when you're chauffered.

Our new minister is also a member of the Parliamentary Friends of Aviation Group. This is a collection of federal MPs that gather to "provide members a great opportunity to stay informed about the issues the industry is facing." It is chaired by long-time aviation champion Senator David Fawcett. Now, you would hope the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport would be part of this group, but the fact that Chester was a member before getting the ministerial gig shows a pre-existing interest in the industry.

None of this suggests that general aviation will have an elevated level of influence on Darren Chester. As minister, he is also responsible for the airlines as well. He will find the best interests of RPT and GA colliding on his desk regularly, forcing him to try to strike a balance between the two.

So, what is going to change? Immediately, we can expect nothing to happen. There is a Federal Election looming in the second half of this year, and although Chester is probably a monty to keep Gippsland, it is always risky making changes that might prove unpopular enough to unseat MPs under siege in marginal electorates.

Over the next couple of weeks, we can expect an announcement that the new minister intends to keep going with the reforms instigated under Warren Truss, but no new policies or directives until after polling day.

Only then will the general aviation community be able to judge the impact of Darren Chester MP in his own right..."

"Friends of Aviation"??

Hmm...perhaps in the current Parliamentary make up of both houses, it would be possible to find other like minded MPs and Senators, of all political persuasions and allegiances, that have had similar issues plaguing the aviation industry, brought to their attention, within their electorates/States? -

MTF? - Yes much...P2 

[Peetwo]

Dear Chester...L&Ks Sandy -   

Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandy.reith.31

..If it wasn’t obvious years ago CASA is simply a make work salary factory. Keep changing the rules and almost without exception make life more difficult and expensive for General Aviation.

In this case the airport is open for Visual Flight Rules arrivals but not Instrument Flight Rules. CASA claims that exemptions are available but the Council didn’t apply.

Here’s a couple of questions:-


Why didn’t CASA specifically offer the Council a solution? No, it expects everyone to spend hours wading through all its latest thought bubbles that are found in volumes of legalese, handily rubber stamped by Parliament.
Why didn’t Darren Chester see the instruments being put to Parliament and question the results of impending changes?

Labor Minister Gareth Evans got rid of aviation out of his Ministry in 1988 by creating the monopoly Government Business Enterprise CASA. An independent corporation with a mandate to put ‘safety’ above all consideration including commonsense.

This abrogation of Ministerial responsibility, flying in the face of the Westminster principle of responsible government, is the reason we saddled with an out of control regulator. CASA has two thirds destroyed GA and weakened us as a Nation.

We were led to believe that new CEO Ms. Pip Spence was brought in from the Transport and Infrastructure Department to make reforms.

According to CASA annual report she commenced 17 May last year and by 30 June ‘21 (c. six weeks later) was paid $253,089. Extrapolate that to a per annum salary, certainly a huge and unexplained jump compared to the previous incumbent.

So far Ms. Spence has accomplished only one reform of note, i. e. removing the Cessna Special Inspections requirements from private aircraft, meanwhile CASA continues to relentlessly grind down GA with its unworkable rules that Parliament inappropriately migrated ( at CASA’s behest) into the criminal code with strict liability for ease of prosecution.

We’ve lost hundreds of flying schools, charter operators and maintenance businesses.

The only way out, and a great opportunity to grow GA, is for Parliament to put aviation back into a Department of Government with responsible Minister at head.

A Private Members Bill Mr. Chester?  Do something for pity’s sake.

MTF...P2