I reckon it’s time to re-badge the not so new DAS – Slydemore – I am slowly, but surely moving away from the notion of NFI toward willing accomplice. At least Oliver Twist was an innocent, who, as soon as he could, he left his dodgy mates behind and tried to live a honest life. But, to mix the metaphors, the scoreboard is starting to reflect the innings.
Apart from a few gab-fests and some fairly ordinary window dressing, what has been achieved thus far: to really address the problems industry faces? The short answer is sweet Fanny Adams.
Reading through the AOPA president’s report there is a common thread. De Stoop is no ones fool, a first class business man, nice fellah; and, shaping up to be a good voice in the aviation choir. Whilst his ‘report’ is balanced, it reflects much of what industry is saying. I can’t lift the quotes from the published page but I will paraphrase some of the important elements.
‘[industry] sees no visible progress in clearing the road blocks’ etc. A little underdone there Marc; in fact more than one small fiefdom is entirely out of all control. Road block and barricade central. Where the rules are being ruthlessly used and manipulated to enforce highly subjective interpretation of policy as law; or, law is bent to suit the edicts of predetermined outcome; unchecked, unchallenged, in the certain knowledge that there is no chance of fair redress. These actions are fully supported by the certain knowledge that threat of ‘special’ audit can and will be used as a weapon. The victims terrified to speak or argue, living in dread of the axe falling, at a whim and evidence made to order. One office is still managed by a person who was actively engaged in the shameful Pel-Air debacle. Yet this person remains not only untouched by anything vaguely resembling inquiry, let alone discipline. We can only assume that this type of behaviour is fully supported by the DAS, for it is certain sure that the outlandish behaviour continues, unabated.
[The] members of the panel responsible for the ASRR are disappointed’ etc.. Understatement of the year; they are duckling furious. The industry demanded those changes and had every right to expect them. Not only did industry fund Forsyth, but the Senate inquiry which also had some words to say about the dreadful performance and behaviour of CASA, yet nothing from the DAS, except “Forsyth was a view”. Truss was acknowledged in 2008 as being less than useful; reconfirmed in 2015 as bloody hopeless. So long as Truss avoids the issues, the department and the DAS will be free to acts as they see fit; sliding back into the same morass which gave us Pel-Air and several other as yet unpublished abominations.
[The] perception is that the entrenched CASA bureaucracy etc. Now we arrive at the gamekeepers of Sleepy Hollow forest. These people simply ignore the Minister, thumb their noses at the Senate and simply do what ever pleases them best, totally unaccountable, completely untouchable and determinedly capable of destroying any hope of reform which displeases them. This is the crew that provides the unlimited power and total immunity which protects those a little lower down the pole from retribution for acts of sheer bastardry, malicious embuggerance and repugnant edicts. Some of the most vicious, deceitful, ridiculous acts emanating from a totally power drunk organisation have been supported by the ‘entrenched’.
‘[the] infantile implementation of Part 61’, etc. I would not have phrased it so benignly. It is a total, complete and utter Duck up. Bad law, bad operational practice, dredged up by incompetent, half assed, junior flight instructors, made into experts. Someone’s wet dream version of how ‘they’ see it. I’ve seen better written by first year junior pilots trying to make some sense of the ridiculous laws that govern their lives. Criminal code, strict liability based rules which cannot be safely translated into operational compliance. It’s bollocks.
And who is selling this crap to vast audiences of 35 people in some distant bush town and claiming it as success and a measure of progress ? The great back slider, master of smoke, commander of mirrors, doyen of the ‘entrenched’. Yup, you guessed it.
Nah, leave it on Gobbles; I’m going to need it again; real soon. .. 
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