[Peetwo]

Has Chair Binskin signed DAS Su_Spence death warrant??

In the course of doing some Google dumpster diving, I came across the following CASA FOI released PDF document: https://auntypru.com/wp-content/uploads/...ment-1.pdf

Report origin

This review, conducted by the Industry Complaints Commissioner, was requested by CASA Board Chair Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Mark Binskin following claims made in the media about industry engagement undertaken by the Board in Darwin in 2021.

The review considered how the Board exercises its Statement of Expectations obligation to facilitate effective interaction between CASA and the aviation industry and broader aviation community, including all related policies and arrangements.

Industry engagement is an important part of the role of the CASA Board and it is important that they can interact with industry to remain abreast of current and emerging issues, as well as potential areas of risk to aviation safety. Three specific items were part of the enquiry:

1. Actions in the lead up to, and activities during, the CASA Board meeting in Darwin in June 2021 mapped against the requirements and expectations that the Board be able to interact in a transparent manner with the aviation industry and broader aviation community to discuss and remain abreast of current and emerging issues, and potential areas of risk to aviation safety.

2. The adequacy of CASA policies and guidance relevant to Board members when transferring issues raised with them from members of the aviation industry or community to the CASA Executive, through the CEO, for appropriate consideration or action.

3. CASA’s Conflict of Interest Policy and the CASA Board Governance Arrangements when assessed against current best practice.

This was the 1st I'd heard of this Chair instigated review? The timeline of this review and subsequent Chair response is fascinating given the context of events that were happening at the same time.

To begin with the negative press (referred to):

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9/05/23:

https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/news-me...ing-record

The article in The Australian newspaper (CASA gave Matt Wright exemption before Chris Wilson’s fatal chopper crash, 6 May 2023) makes several statements that are incorrect and potentially misleading.

CASA routinely assesses applications for activities which are unusual or not specifically addressed in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. Collecting crocodile eggs in remote areas is a good example and this type of activity has been approved, with safety conditions, for more than 10 years.

CASA’s Board regularly meets in different locations around Australia as part of an ongoing program to engage with communities, local operators and CASA staff. Visiting aviation businesses to gain a deeper understanding of aviation operations is often arranged around Board meetings.

The CASA CEO and Board were not flown to the Tiwi Islands on a helicopter. As part of a familiarisation of remote air services, two members flew to Bathurst Island and return on the same afternoon on scheduled airline flights from Darwin. The tickets were purchased by CASA.

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23/05/23:

All documents and correspondence related to the 23 June 2021 Crocodile Farms NT gift of a briefing and helicopter flight.

Freedom of Information (FOI) - 23 June 2021 Helicopter Flight

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2/06/23: Chair Binskin commissions ICC review:

I commissioned this Review, pursuant to paragraph 2.1 of the Industry Complaints Commissioner’s Governance Arrangements, for you to examine how the CASA Board engages with industry participants, including all related policies and arrangements. The Review’s Terms of Reference noted that it was essential for the CASA Board to be able to interact in a transparent manner with the aviation industry and broader aviation community to discuss and remain abreast of current and emerging issues, and potential areas of risk to aviation safety.

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29/06/23:

Certificate of airworthiness for VH-IDW and organisation surveillance findings.

Exemption(s) applied: s47F, s47G, s37(1)(a).

Freedom of Information (FOI) 29 June 2023 – Certificate of airworthiness for VH-IDW and organisation surveillance findings – Part 1 of 2 (PDF, 4.24 MB)

Freedom of Information (FOI) 29 June 2023 – Certificate of airworthiness for VH-IDW and organisation surveillance findings – Part 2 of 2 (PDF, 6.87 MB)

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5/07/23:

CASA.CARRY Instruments

Exemption(s) applied: s47F, s47G.

Freedom of Information (FOI) 5 July 2023 – CASA.CARRY Instruments (PDF, 7.88 MB)

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9/08/23:

ICC Commissioner Jonathon Hanton releases review to Chair Binskin.

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22/08/23:

CASA.CARRY instruments to Helibrook and Northshore Holdings since 2010 (and was not released in the FOI decision of 5 July 2023).

Exemption(s) applied: S22, s47G

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1/09/23:

Correspondence between Pip Spence, Matt Wright, Mick Burns and Michael Bridge.

Exemption(s) applied: S47F

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12/10/23:

CASA Board Meeting where (supposedly) the Board discussed the ICC review report and 10 recommendations:

Recommendation 1

Given the contradiction this presents (mandatory non-acceptance contrasted with avoidance), it is recommended CASA’s Hospitality and Gifts Policy be amended to remove reference to avoiding lobbyist gifts to ensure the intent of never accepting gifts from lobbyists is captured.

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Recommendation 2

It is recommended that CASA consider whether the Hospitality and Gifts Policy should specify whether the reference to lobbyists is as defined by the Lobbying Code, or any lobbyists (including in-house lobbyists).

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Recommendation 3

It is recommended that all current Board members’ Material Personal Interest declarations be reviewed to confirm they meaningfully set out the nature and extent of interest relevant to CASA’s affairs.

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Recommendation 4

It is recommended that guidance be developed and incorporated into the Board Governance Arrangements addressing the tension for Board members between their obligation to facilitate effective interaction and co-operation between CASA and industry while also avoiding perceived conflicts of interest arising.

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Recommendation 5

It is recommended that section 4 of the Board Governance Arrangements be amended to set out the existing process by which industry events and visits are arranged, and to note that meetings should periodically be held in Regional Offices to provide CASA staff and local industry participants with exposure to the Board given this appears to be an ancillary purpose of holding meetings in regional locations.

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Recommendation 6

There is no express requirement in paragraph 4.8.2 of the Board Governance Arrangements that site visits be recorded in Board minutes. However, it would enhance protections against Conflict of Interest if that was the case, and it is therefore recommended that the Minutes or the Board’s meeting communiques note any site or industry visits taken during regional Board meetings

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Recommendation 7

That being the case, to enhance both the perceptions that the conflict-of-interest policies and procedures applying to the Board are robust and to ensure compliance with the Archives Act, it is recommended that CASA Board members only use CASA email accounts when conducting official CASA business, including when conducting interactions with industry representatives as a CASA Board member.

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Recommendation 8

Recognising, however, that this may prove to be impractical with how Board members conduct their business among their various other commitments, in the alternative it is recommended that paragraph 2.4.5 of the CASA Board Governance Arrangements be amended to stipulate Members conducting interactions with industry representatives must advise the Chair that they will use personal email accounts and ensure that they include the Director of Aviation Safety and the Board Secretary in all correspondence related to CASA business.

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Recommendation 9

It is recommended the Board consider whether further review or amendments to the Board Governance Arrangements are required.

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Recommendation 10

It is also recommended that CASA obtain external legal advice that definitively sets out when emails from Board members’ non-CASA email addresses are captured by the Freedom of Information Act.

(P2 comment: I note that in the Chair's summary of the 12 October Board meeting there is no mention of the Board's consideration of the ICC review: https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/who-we-...tober-2023)

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23/10/23:

Senate Supp Estimates, where CASA DAS didn't declare the existence of or table the ICC report.

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1/11/23:

Chair Binskin review response correspondence to ICC Jonathon Hanton.

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22/11/23:

ATSB Croc-o-shite report released

(Despite being a systemic investigation, there was no mention about the CASA Board COI review, that was originally instigated due to the CASA Board flight with Matt Wright on behalf of the operator Helibrook.)

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7/12/23:

CASA Board Meeting: https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/who-we-...#undefined

(Again no mention about the ICC review and/or the Board response to that review)

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19/01/24:

A copy of CASA’s submission to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in response to its draft Transport Safety Report about Aviation Occurrence Investigation AO-2022-009.

Exemption(s) applied: S38

&..

All correspondence between past and present board members related to human external cargo operations (HEC) and/or crocodile egg collecting.

Exemption(s) applied: s22, s47F, s47

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12/02/24:

Additional Estimates where Senator Roberts brought up Board COI issues:

Senator ROBERTS: In the May 2022 Senate estimates your evidence was that all gifts and benefits were listed on your website under the gifts and benefits register. That wasn't true, was it?

Ms Spence : I thought that they all were on the list. I haven't deliberately misled the committee. If something wasn't included, I apologise. But everything is certainly on the register now.

Senator ROBERTS: Now?

Ms Spence : And has been for some time.

Senator ROBERTS: If you put it on the register, that means you think it was a gift. But you told me it wasn't a gift.

Mr Marcelja : We were pretty clear in our written response that those memberships predated people joining CASA. We clarified that.

Senator ROBERTS: I'll get to that. That's clarified in your opinion, but it doesn't clarify it so far as the Public Service Association is concerned. Senior members of the aviation regulator had been given access to exclusive airline clubs that aren't available to the public, and this was kept a secret from Australians. Yet you maintain that this doesn't create even a potential conflict of interest.

Ms Spence : I don't accept the premise that it was kept a secret.

Senator ROBERTS: We'll get to that one too. This explanation from the Australian Public Service Commission is very important:

… Public confidence in APS agencies and the APS more broadly can be damaged when gifts and benefits that create a conflict of interest are accepted or not properly declared. The appearance of a conflict can be just as damaging to public confidence in public administration as a conflict which gives rise to a concern based on objective facts.

Having gifted access to exclusive aviation lounges is obviously a conflict of interest when you are the aviation regulator—the aviation regulator.

Ms Spence : No, we're the aviation safety regulator.

Senator ROBERTS: This is regardless of whether the benefit predates the official's employment, and this was not declared.

Ms Spence : I genuinely don't recall us not being on the register—of me having Chairman's Lounge and Virgin Beyond lounge membership. When I was in the department and first received those invitations to join those, it's always been something that I've declared in any of my potential conflicts of interest. Notwithstanding that, I genuinely don't believe it creates a conflict of interest.

Senator ROBERTS: Let me continue. It's very concerning to me that you try to tell this committee that all benefits were declared on the gift register at a time they clearly were not. You made no mention of the fact that you had updated the register with these gifts—

Mr Marcelja : Senator, we—

Senator ROBERTS: Mr Marcelja, I'm trying to talk!

Ms Spence : Just—

Senator ROBERTS: You just quietly updated the webpage and tried to act like those things had been there properly for the entire time, and that's not the case, is it? The gifts weren't on the register at the time you gave evidence to this committee that they were.

Ms Spence : Senator, I'll have to take that on notice. I genuinely thought that they were always on the register. If they weren't, they're certainly on there now and it has never been a secret that I've had those lounge memberships.

Senator ROBERTS: Ms Spence, it seems that it's contemptuous of this committee for you to try and just quietly update this information in the secretive manner that you have. Why not alert the committee that the previous evidence was incorrect and issue a clarification, which is what most honest public servants do?

Ms Spence : As we said in our response to your question, nothing was declared on the CASA gifts and benefits register as no lounge access had actually been provided to CASA executives or board members as a result of their roles in CASA.

Senator ROBERTS: That's a furphy, Ms Spence! They have done—

Ms Spence : It's not a furphy, Senator!

Senator ROBERTS: You're making out that they had them before they joined CASA.

Ms Spence : They did—I did.

Senator ROBERTS: They still have them—

Ms Spence : Yes.

Senator ROBERTS: and they weren't declared. Then, when you updated it to declare them, you didn't advise the committee. You just did it quietly.

Ms Spence : I'm genuinely sorry that you feel that I've misled the committee—

Senator ROBERTS: It isn't my feelings that matter! It's the facts that matter—

Ms Spence : Well, I apologise to the committee unreservedly, but there was never any intention to mislead. As I said, the issue, as far as I can recall, was because you list things as they're provided to you, and because they were already in the possession of myself and some of our board members prior to them actually being on the board they must not have been listed originally. They're on there now, and I have nothing else I can say.

CHAIR: Senator Roberts, does this—

Senator ROBERTS: It's my last question. This brings much of the evidence that you've given to this committee into question, Ms Spence, if this is how you deal with answers that you later find are incorrect. We wouldn't even know this unless someone had trawled back through the internet archives. You have apologised; is there anything else you need to apologise for in our exchanges?

Ms Spence : No, Senator.

Senator ROBERTS: I don't see you as a credible witness with your evidence, Ms Spence.

 

(Despite the line of questioning and the possible kudos that would have possibly afforded her, Su_Spence still does not declare the existence of the ICC review report??)

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1/03/24:

CASA FOI PDF released document titled "icc-review-casa-board-engagement" created and then modified 5/03/24.

(FOI document yet to be listed on CASA FOI disclosure log??)

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MTF...P2