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Sunny: Net result of CASA corruption and incompetence will be higher insurance premiums for Australian registered aircraft compared to other developed countries.

Which supports the BRB hypothesis that M&M & co seek to decimate the GA industry in this country…

On a slightly different tack I noticed some interesting obs by Dougy in his weekly insight:

Quote:
Editor’s insights 5 February 2015

05 Feb 2015

Doug Nancarrow

Lots of informed speculation circulating at the moment, including about the CASA board, Qantas and the appointment of a new ICAO Secretary General.

There’s set to be some changes to the CASA board when chairman Allan Hawke steps down in the second quarter. I have assumed up till recently that deputy chair Jeff Boyd would take on the role at that time, but there’s some talk that an entirely new chairman may be appointed. If that’s so then there’s one obvious candidate for the job, but would he want to take it on? Either way, the ‘new’ CASA board needs to be independently proactive and firmly behind the new DAS, to help him stay on song in his relationships with industry and with those powerful CASA elements that can be obstacles to change.

The other thing the CASA board and the Minister’s office should be looking at is reconvening the team that put together the ASRR Report, now more commonly known as the Forsyth Report. We’re rapidly approaching the one-year mark since the report was delivered to the Minister and given a pretty general industry view that not much has been done about the report’s recommendations it would be a damned good idea for the trio who put it together to give us a report on progress – or lack of it.

On the Qantas front there’s been some chatter that chairman Leigh Clifford might have decided that he’s had enough after seven years at the helm. If that turns out to be the case then it could have significant implications for CEO Alan Joyce who has worked very closely with Clifford. Even more so if rumours about a Clifford replacement also turn out to be true.

And we’ll know about the second week of March if Australia’s official nominee for the top job at ICAO has got in. The contest for the ICAO Secretary General position, now in its final days, is between former CASA DAS John McCormick and a Chinese nominee who has been running the human resources side of things in Montreal. Regardless of any residual industry sentiment about J Mc it would be excellent to see an Australian running the show up there.

Despite the extraordinary distractions in Canberra right now, it seems likely that the Senate star chamber will shortly be targeting unresolved aviation issues such as the Pelair ditching. And aviation entities such as Airservices and ATSB are not out of the woods yet either. I fully understand the need for vigilance with regard to the performance of these aviation bodies, but it can get out of hand and become a huge distraction from the real work they are charged with performing. Just look at the way the NSW ICAC has run amok in recent times. Dig deep and hard enough and you’ll always find something amiss, but you will run the risk of turning a target into an organisation focused almost entirely on its own survival instead of the job it should be getting on with. Finding the right balance is not something
Senate committees have in mind. They want blood.

Hmm interesting… However it was the 5th paragraph that almost made me vomit…

“…Regardless of any residual industry sentiment about J Mc it would be excellent to see an Australian running the show up there…

…but then I thought nahh Dougy’s got his tongue fairly stuck in his cheek..

I also did a small exercise and passed Dougy’s missive around and here was a couple of (anonymous..) responses…

“…If Doug and I were in the same room I’d suggest that McCormick’s behaviour in the Pel-Air episode the lying to protect CASA at the expense of air safety and the victims of the crash should render him ineligible…I would endorse his suggestion of a Forsyth review…”

“…Agreed. His integrity is such that he simply can’t occupy such a position…Then imagine how awkward it would be if Aust aviation was to be downgraded as a result of deficiencies on his watch…Too many skeletons…”

But my personal favourite was this one…:Lock up your daughters, hide your gold.

Which surprisingly heavily supported a twitlonger piece I had been working on when the J Mac ICAO secgen story was covered by the MMSM the Oz – Watch out world!:

Quote:
CASA chief John McCormick’s ICAO nomination confirmedTHE federal government has confirmed its nomination of the former Civil Aviation Safety Authority chief John McCormick for the secretary-general’s posi­tion at the International Civil Avia­tion Organisation. Mr McCormick finished his term last year amid controversy about the way CASA dealt with the industry and after a highly critical 2013 Senate committee ­report into the authority’s role in an investigation of the 2009 crash of a Pel-Air air ambulance off Norfolk Island.The Aviation Safety Regulatory Review report, chaired by ­industry ­veteran David Forsyth, called for sweeping reforms after criticising CASA for taking too hard a line and maintaining an adversarial approach to the industry, which had lost trust in the authority.The report was ordered by Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss in response to industry criticism of CASA and concerns about the adequacy of the Aus­tralian Transport Safety Board’s investigation into the Pel-Air ditching.
It accused the regulator of adopting “an across-the-board hardline philosophy, which in the panel’s view is not appropriate for an advanced aviation nation such as Australia’’.The government said it would investigate 36 of the review’s 37 recommendations.Mr McCormick’s nomination appears to have been revealed at an ICAO seminar last year by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development’s inter­national standards director, Jamie Thomson.
A spokesman for Mr Truss this week confirmed the endorsement of Mr McCormick to replace Raymond Benjamin when his term expires on June 30.“Having an Australian serve as ICAO secretary-general would present a unique opportunity to further enhance Australia’s international reputation in maintaining the safety and security of aviation and for Australia to continue to influence international aviation policy development,’’ the spokesman said.

“Mr McCormick has over 30 years of experience in the aviation industry as CEO of CASA, a senior pilot and airline manager, as well as experience in the RAAF. No other candidate for ­secretary-general of ICAO can bring the same experience and qualifications to the role.’’

“…This consummate Sociopath – almost single-handedly – in 5 (long) years has nearly decimated the Australian GA industry…”

Remember this…??

Buyer (ICAO) beware!

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