[Peetwo]

Timeline of miniscule corruption - Part II

(These are my thoughts and opinions only -  ) 

Most people in the know say that Mick Mack is just a village idiot with not the first blind clue about aviation. However I think there is more to it than that and not only is he an imbecile that has lost his village but he is also a bought idiot who is beholden to his owners. 

Now McDonaught is not on his Pat Malone being a Pollie bought and captured by a third party (usually foreign) interest, it seems to be part and parcel with politics these days. However I am not sure that there has ever been a Deputy PM that I suspect was captured long before he was ever elected in 2010 to the Riverina Federal seat??

Taking a look at the Mick Mack Wikipedia entry it says...

..After leaving school, McCormack took up a cadetship at The Daily Advertiser, the local daily newspaper. He was appointed editor of the paper in 1991, aged 27, making him reputedly the "youngest newspaper editor in Australia".[8]

McCormack was sacked from The Daily Advertiser in February 2002. In response, "more than 20 journalists, photographers and other editorial staff" staged a 24-hour walkout.[9] McCormack went on to sue the Riverina Media Group for unfair dismissal, and in 2003 settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[10]... 

 ...McCormack was campaign director for Kay Hull, the Nationals MP for Riverina, at the 2004 and 2007 federal elections. [b][i]Hull announced her retirement from politics in April 2010, and McCormack subsequently won preselection for her seat at the 2010 election...[/i][/b]

A fairly major part of the job of a political campaign director is to look for political support and donations from local businesses and Kay Hull already had a strong affiliation with REX airlines...

Regional Express executive chairman Lim Kim Hai (centre) with deputy chairman John Sharp and then federal member for Riverina Kay Hull at Wagga airport in 2010.

...Mrs Hull points to saving regional aviation as one of her success stories.

“We were told that regional aviation was just too hard, the government that I was part of told me that. I didn’t accept that and I joined forces with (original Regional Express chief) Michael Jones and worked tirelessly and brought about the government support that was required to put that airline into the sky...

...which culminated with the announcement in 2009 that REX would be relocating it's pilot academy AAPA to Wagga Wagga:

The Nationals Member for Riverina, today welcomed the news that Regional Express’ (Rex) wholly owned subsidiary ‘Australian Airline Pilot Academy’ (AAPA) will be relocated to Wagga Wagga, starting April 2009.

“This is terrific news for Wagga Wagga, the Riverina, and regional aviation in general. The AAPA will bring with it 70 high quality jobs and a high profile role for the region as a centre for pilot training,” Mrs. Hull said.

“I congratulate the Chairman Kim Hai Lim and his board for their continued investment in the future of regional Australia. The commitment of REX in providing frequency of services and access for professional support teams particularly in the area of health needs to be recognised.

“Rex has had to overcome major challenges due to skills shortages, but they have chosen to invest their hard earned profits into securing the future of regional aviation.

“I am aware that Mr Davis, Rex’s Managing Director, has paid tribute to the Wagga Wagga City Council staff, led by Mayor Kerry Pascoe and General Manager Lyn Russell, who have been instrumental in making this happen.

“I also send my congratulations to the Wagga Wagga City Council for their efforts in ensuring that the Rex board decided in favour of Wagga Wagga.

Rex has purchased a modern hangar at Wagga Wagga airport as well as 2.4 hectares of land that borders the Wagga Wagga airport for a total of $1.55M.

Plans are being drawn up to develop a state-of-the-art Training Centre on the land as well as accommodation, administration and recreational facilities to house the trainee pilots. It is expected the first stage of the development to be ready by the end of 2009.

“I am aware that there are plans for AAPA to be the premier pilot academy in Asia Pacific with a projected throughput of more than 200 pilots a year for both Australian and international airlines.

“For the city of Wagga Wagga and the entire Riverina area, this announcement is really exciting and I welcome wholeheartedly this new chapter in our relationship with REX and the benefits it brings to our region,” Mrs. Hull said.

 
Nearly every year since Mick Mack was elected he has been involved locally in multiple official events surrounding both REX and AAPA, including in 2017 the graduation of the first intake of Vietnamese Airline pilots...

Regional Express Airlines is part of Wagga Wagga's family.

It was an honour to join Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP as Wagga Wagga's Australian Airline Pilot Academy - AAPA graduated its next class of pilots yesterday.

This graduating class included seven Vietnamese pilots, who have come to Wagga Wagga to learn from the best and take those skills with them to their careers abroad.

The class strengthens the city's reputation around the world as a leader in pilot training.

Congratulations to the graduating class!

For a bit more, here's my chat with AAPA Chairman Chris Hine.

... and just last year where he addressed the 2019 REX Graduation ceremony:

Hmm...makes you sick listening to that bollocks...  But despite the staged, plastic rhetoric, I guess it is fair enough given he is the local member and REX/AAPA are a significant local business and employer. However I think as the minister overseeing the aviation industry there is much more to it than that?? 

Since the election campaign of 2013 - Coalition's policy for aviation, August 2013 I don't believe there has been one coherent aviation policy delivered by the Coalition in Government?? Perhaps this is because the big aviation players (like REX, Qantas et.al)  are more than satisfied with the current aviation regulatory and/or oversight environment (where St Commode is happy beating up on small GA players like Angel Flight and Glen Buckley).

Cribbed from a pre-election Oz Flying post (on behalf of Mick Mack) the following extracts provide a disturbing vision of where the Smoko/Mick Mack Coalition Govt believe the future lies for the once proud Australian pilot training industry (my bold)...

I acknowledge there are pressures on flying training schools. I am always happy to look at what we can do better. But I do not agree with the idea that the industry is somehow dying.


CASA has recorded an increase in the number of flying schools on its register from 210 in 2012 to 235 in 2014 and now the number currently sits at 250. P2 - Coming from CASA you have to be suspicious about those figures? For example does that figure include Part 142 approvals for internal Airline training organisations and/or simulator service providers like CAE or Flight Safety?  

This comes as the way in which we train our future airline pilots is also changing.

Previously, a young pilot would get their commercial licence and either become a flying instructor or enter the small charter sector. This would then lead to a job at a small commuter airline connecting regional centres with the capital cities in larger twin engine aircraft such as the Piper Navajo that many regional airlines operate.

But things have changed. Regional Express Airlines’ SAAB 340s, Qantas Link’s Dash-8s and Virgin’s ATR-72s now connect the country and coast to the cities. P2 - How many years have regional airlines been operating mid-range turboprops?? - FDS!

These airlines have their own training schools designed to prepare young pilots specifically for that type of flying. Rex’s training school, the Australian Airline Pilot Academy in Wagga Wagga, has trained more than 230 pilot cadets since 2007, nearly all of whom are now flying the SAAB 340.

Qantas has announced the first of its own schools to be based in Toowoomba, like Virgin’s announcement for a flying school at Tamworth. This is the modern way of training future airline pilots and it is being replicated world-wide.

Australia’s aviation record means that when foreign airlines are looking for training grounds for their young pilots, Australia sits at the top of the list.

This is something we should embrace.

It is easy to see the economic benefit to the communities where these flying schools are located.

The pilots generally spend at least a year at the location. This means jobs in the community. It means money flowing around the economy. And it’s another option to recruit or retain skilled young people – and young families – to stay in the regions. P2 - Hey dipshit, this economic benefit is limited to a small number of larger communities. What about the smaller communities that once had aeroclubs or small flying schools that offered flight training services for the local region bringing business and trade to both the airport and local community. Just ask Senator McDonald about that - DIPSHIT!  

Despite some speculation, there is no evidence of substantial foreign ownership of regional airports and aviation training facilities – or the training of foreign pilots – and nor is it impacting the supply of pilots in the Australian market.

If flying schools, airlines and airports want to undertake training here, they play by the same rules and requirements as everyone else. P2 - But they are not licensed here but rather in their home country, therefore there is no requirement for them to operate under the onerous and expensive regulatory requirements of both Part 61 and 142.  

And – thanks to The Nationals in Government – the Foreign Investment Review Board was given additional powers in 2015 to investigate ownership by foreign state-owned enterprises – regardless of value – to ensure it’s in Australia’s national interest.

So the story of Australian aviation remains a good one, and one of which we should be proud.

The Liberals and Nationals will continue to support all parts of the aviation sector to thrive and as the election draws near, we will have more to say on what a re-elected Liberal and Nationals Government will do to help into the future.

But at the heart of this discussion is an Australian export creating jobs and opportunities in the bush. An industry with a bright future and bipartisan support.

And that’s something which is the envy of the world.

Michael McCormack is Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Leader of The Nationals and Member for Riverina.
Comment on the future of aviation in Australia has been sought from Shadow Minister for Transport Anthony Albanese.

And to reinforce the above bollocks statement in the lead up to the election:

Ref: https://www.michaelmccormack.com.au/medi...n-clemence

...Our government is also making an investment in regional Australia and this is part of our overall decentralisation, if you like, because what we're going to see as a result of this Instrument Landing System is better, safer airways here at Mildura. A system by which planes can land in low visibility, planes can land much safer in all sorts of conditions. But what we're also going to see is pilot training schools from metropolitan cities relocate to Mildura.

We've already seen that there's going to be a lot of interest in this. And for every dozen or so pilot trainees, that's pumping about a million dollars into the Mildura economy each and every year. And I know that for a fact because Wagga Wagga has a pilot training school. Wagga Wagga has an ILS and I've seen the difference that the ILS makes in pilot training, in those sorts of training schools and in the future of aviation at Wagga Wagga.

So if it's good enough for Wagga Wagga, it's certainly going to be good enough for Mildura and I know the local Mayor has said that this is going to be such a difference, make such a difference for Mildura, for the airport, and for the pilot training future of this particular region...(blah..blah..blah)

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Plus after the election:

Which brings me back full circle to the strange duplicitous actions/statements of Mick Mack bizarrely favouring the dodgy Soar operation; while under his watch the attempted embuggerance by CASA of Glen Buckley's fully compliant APTA (Part 142) operation (that was ironically designed to enhance aviation safety outcomes while facilitating the continued existence of small town aeroclubs and flying schools) was being carried out??   



MTF? - YES MUCH!...P2   

ps In light of the current smell surrounding Mick Mack's deputy I found this extract (from the MM Mildura ILS transcript) interesting...  

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

And the Mayor was just here, the Mayor Simon Clemence just made that point that this is the most significant investment in Mildura. He talked about the local sports stadium, which came at a cost of a bit over $20 million, about $26 million, which in his words, "they had to fight, and scrap, and scratch for," and it was funded, but this just has such economic activity around it. I mean, the flow on effects are incredible. As Anne Webster just indicated, the direct and indirect jobs that are going to be created, not just for Mildura, but also for Wentworth, the Ouyen, and towns around Mildura. It's going to have such an economic outpouring of money, of jobs, of accommodation, of food. Everybody needs to be housed, and fed, and watered, and so it's just going to be such an incredible economic outcome for this area.[/font][/size][/color]

 


pps - Additional AP reference:  Oz aviation, safety compromised by political and bureaucratic subterfuge ?- 

Mick Mack a Dead Duck waddling?? 

Via the Oz today...

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If Bridget McKenzie is cactus, Michael McCormack is exposed as Nationals leader
GEOFF CHAMBERS



Inside the Nationals, there are ongoing anxieties that Michael McCormack is “out of touch”. Picture: Getty

• 6:52AM JANUARY 24, 2020S
  

Michael McCormack’s support base in his own partyroom has dwindled to a handful.

If Bridget McKenzie is forced out as deputy leader, he loses an ally and faces the likely promotion of David Littleproud and Matt Canavan.

At 43, Littleproud is emerging as a favourite to claim McKenzie’s job. Canavan, who ran a ruthlessly efficient campaign in regional Queensland and is not afraid to take on the Liberals, would become the party’s Senate leader at 39.


David Littleproud. Picture: AAP

The ambitious pairing is seen as the future of the Nationals.

With 21 MPs, Nationals partyroom elections are notoriously unpredictable.

A party insider said while McCormack would have a cabinet pick, his “locked-in” support was tenuous and he would need to tread carefully.

Outside his closest NSW confidants, McKenzie and her ­Victorian colleagues Darren Chester and Damian Drum are not considered to be rusted-on backers.

Inside the Nationals, there are ongoing anxieties that McCormack is “out of touch” and not equipped to combat One Nation and the Shooters and Fishers in regional Australia.


Matt Canavan. Picture: AAP

While there is no move on his job — continuing a longstanding tradition of not rolling incumbent Nationals leaders — the loss of McKenzie would leave him ­exposed.

McCormack, who dined with Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg at The Lodge on Wednesday night, must avoid perceptions the Liberals are giving the orders.

The public popularity of the Prime Minister and his call for “unity” inside the Coalition gives McCormack cover, but colleagues want him to be more ­assertive and show a bit of ­“mongrel”.

If McKenzie goes, McCormack will need to promote strategically. The Queenslanders want greater ministerial representation and he will need to address losing a senior female minister.

Any attempt by McKenzie to dig in is potentially disastrous for the government and Morrison wants the matter resolved before Wednesday, when he delivers his first major speech of the year.

If McKenzie survives, Labor will relentlessly pursue the government when parliament resumes on February 4. The chances of her appearing at estimates hearings, which begin on March 2, are unlikely.

The Victorian senator is personally liked by colleagues but many feel she has become “gaffe-prone”.



Once your own MPs begin canvassing your replacement, it’s time to go.

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Inside the Nationals, there are ongoing anxieties that McCormack is “out of touch” - Well DUCK ME - DO YOU RECKON?? 

Somewhat related - Sandy via multiple articles on the Oz...

As for our Deputy PM and leader (?) of the Nationals, if he falls like a domino after Bridget McKenzie few tears will fall. 

Minister Michael McCormack is known as ‘McDonaught’ in General Aviation (GA) circles for continuing the hands off approach to the CASA induced slow destruction of GA and the loss of hundreds of flying schools, charter operators and maintenance facilities. 

We are sadly lacking in real leadership, PM Morrison talks about red tape reduction but in this glaring example, the sinking of a whole industry by CASA over regulation and fee gouging, nothing actually happens. This is a failure and in-built difficulty of the Coalition because the Nationals alway get the transport portfolio and the Liberals are too frightened to interfere. 
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Story: McCormack is also in peril

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Morgan makes the overall case very well, with our artificial capital Canberra being the self serving model for all levels of government. The ABS figures show Canberra’s very strong population growth (included as a community with Queanbeyan) now up to 450,000. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe says about one third of the national workforce is in government employment. As the trend to increasing government employment and involvement continues, particularly with compulsory voting and great numbers relying on welfare payments, it will become impossible to to find politicians willing to make reforms. 
In Canberra government statistics show average salaries are 40% higher than in the remainder of Australia. 
Otherwise known as Can’tberra, it would be the world’s leader in developing the most complex regulations with all sorts of unnecessary permissions, permissions which then require colossal fees from hapless companies and individuals who find themselves enmeshed when trying to develop just about anything. 
No greater example exists than the fading and forgotten General Aviation industry, dying by a thousand regulatory cuts and fee gouging by the uncontrolled independent regulator CASA. 
If Morgan wished to strengthen his case with an outstanding example where thousands of jobs and businesses have been lost, along with the $billions of economic activity, then here would be a field to provide incontrovertible evidence. 
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Story: Drain the swamp and prosper

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Tired of all the usual commentary? Search Houston Texas for residential housing and see what how the market responds where there is no zoning. That’s right no zoning, just as it was here before governments decided that private citizens didn’t have the sense to work out for themselves where to live and what to build. Compare the total mortgage loading for the citizens of Houston to our Melbourne or Sydney property market and imagine the vast sums available to Houstonians that we have tied up in our bloated banks. Of course don’t rock the boat, haven’t we built Nirvana? We must give thanks to our army of planners who’ve been in charge for the last fifty years, we must be unquestionably far more advanced than any other parts of the world.