[Peetwo]

GlenB embuggerance update: 12/09/24

Via AP emails:

Dear Mr Hanton, 
In order to expedite processes and prevent the opportunity to further delay matters, may I request that your response be broken into two components with the priority at the moment being "the complaint", and you could respond to the background dot points as soon as "practical", but respond to the complaint as soon as "possible". 
The complaint is:
 

• Can CASA clearly identify to me whether Mr Aleck had considered the Agreement that had previously been provided to CASA on multiple occasions over previous years, on or before 23rd October 23rd 2018. 
  
• Can you advise the date that Mr Aleck first became aware that CASA already held the Agreements.
  

The complaint could be fully resolved by a single internal intercom communication with Mr Aleck, so presumably the complaint could be promptly attended to, and is almost independent of the "dot points" at this stage, although those responses are required.
Considering how promptly the communication could be made with Mr Aleck, would it be possible to have that response by close of business Friday 13th September. The response could be as short as a "yes" or "no. 
Regarding the date that I am attempting to ascertain, I suggest that the misplaced Agreement would have been forwarded to Mr Aleck from within CASA as an attachment shortly after October 23rd 2018, being after the date that I got the request for that document that CASA already held. 
Respectfully, Glen Buckley

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OFFICIAL

Hi Glen

Thank you for your email, I acknowledge receipt.

With respect to your request that I alert you know if I disagree with any of the statements you have made before you move forward, I am not in a position to do that until I have had the opportunity to review contemporaneous records. For that reason, please do not delay pursuing any course of action if waiting for the outcome of my enquiries would prejudice you in any way.

Thanks

Jonathan

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Subject: Misfeasance in public office- Mr Aleck CASA Executive Manager.

To the CASA Industry Complaints Commissioner

On October 23rd, 2018,  Mr Aleck the CASA Executive Manager of Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs sent notification to me that my business had been operating unlawfully throughout the previous decade, and the business was given as little as 7 days to continue operating. CASA went on to close down my business in June 2019. In June 2019, CASA stood by its determination that all personnel operating under a CASA Authorisation must be employed by the same Company that CASA issued the Authorisation to, and they cannot be employees of another Company or Entity. 

Furthermore, effective immediately from the date of that notification on October 23rd 2018,

• CASA placed an "administrative freeze" on processing all regulatory tasks for the business in its entirety, which prevented upskilling personnel, adding hardware such as flight simulators, adding new courses, bases, aircraft etc.
  
• CASA advised that I was likely subject to prosecution.
  
• CASA wrote to all my customers advising that they were also potentially subject to prosecution by their association with me.
  
• The business was unable to enrol students due to only 7 days surety of operations.
  
• The business was prevented from adding on new bases, as they were deemed to be unlawful.
  
• The impact on the business both reputationally and commercially was immediate, and significant. On multiple occasions throughout the 8 months that these trading restrictions remained in place, I notified CASA that the trading restrictions were crippling the business, and required me, and once my own funds were exhausted, my parents to fund $10,000 to $15,000 per week in staff wages, and maintaining the safety department, let alone all the other fixed costs of operating a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). 
  

As you are aware I have raised allegations of misfeasance in public office, and providing false and misleading information to a Commonwealth Ombudsman investigation. against Mr Aleck, the CASA Executive Manager of Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs.  

I believe that Mr Aleck acted with targeted malice towards me personally , and that truthfully he made no assessment at all, of any of our systems or procedures at any time. In fact from his office in Canberra, and having never visited the facility, or any of our bases, I suggest that he knew very little about how the business operated, despite it being his own Legal area that had issued all the Authorisations and Approvals over more than a decade that the business operated. 

My concerns that Mr Aleck was acting maliciously towards me, were further confirmed when CASA recently conceded that Mr Aleck never even accessed any of our operational control procedures contained within our Flight School Manager program, at any time prior to sending the notification in October 2018. How could he truthfully have any concerns about "operational control" when the very CASA approved procedures designed for operational control, and in use by the business for over a decade were not even considered by Mr Aleck. 

To me, that is the most astounding and concerning admission by CASA. A business has been shut down by Mr Aleck with all the associated harm and trauma, and there is not a single safety concern ever produced, no deficiency in any procedure,  and furthermore no assessment of systems and procedures was ever undertaken by the decision maker in this matter. The decision maker being Mr Aleck, the CASA Executive Manager of Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs.  

In your recent correspondence confirming that Mr Aleck never accessed any of our FSM systems designed for operational control, you noted that Mr Aleck had made the following statement. 

"Access to APTA’s FMS system was unnecessary to the views I formed in relation to APTA’s contractual arrangements." 

It only further confirms my view that Mr Aleck may have been acting maliciously. It's interesting to note that Mr Aleck convinced the Ombudsman that he was not the decision maker when his response above , clearly indicates that truthfully he was the decision maker, but more importantly consider this: 

Mr Aleck contends that it was not necessary to review our systems and procedures that are industry leading, fully compliant, and perhaps the most advanced system of operational control adopted by any school in Australia. 

If Mr Aleck was of the view that it was unnecessary to look at our systems and procedures, and determined that an assessment of them was not required, then at least he should have looked at existing contractual arrangements, especially as he had supposed  concerns about the  contractual arrangements. 

The point being that Mr Aleck gathered no evidence to support his decision making. 

Surely any well intentioned, right minded, reasonable person would form the view that for Mr Aleck to have concerns about the existing contractual arrangement he would have to at least have a look at that  existing contractual arrangement that has been in place for a number of years wouldn't he? 

Truthfully, and I'm sure you will concur, although I don't expect you to comment against it. If a CASA employee has closed down a business on any concerns, surely that decision maker should have reviewed the CASA approved systems and procedures that had been in place for over a decade. If the determination is that there is some deficiency, or at least potentially some deficiency, it does require the decision maker to have some knowledge of the existing systems, in order to determine the deficiency. 

If Mr Aleck is of the opinion that it was not necessary to have knowledge of the existing systems, would it not be incumbent on him to at least review and assess the existing contractual arrangements, as an absolute minimum,  if he has concerns that the existing contractual arrangements are deficient. How can you possibly determine something to be deficient, or have concerns about it,  if he  hasn't even looked at it? 

I think it's important that some significant facts are clarified at this point in time, and I am seeking your response. If you disagree with any of the following dot points could I ask that you highlight your objection.  

I understand that if you choose to make no comment, that does not necessarily mean that you concur with my views, however if you fundamentally believe any of the dot points below  to be in error I ask that you alert me to that now, at this stage before I proceed with the matter. These matters need to be clarified before we move forward. You are aware that I am fully satisfied that Mr Aleck has provided false and misleading information to the Commonwealth Ombudsman investigation, I am trying to ensure clarity and truthfulness.

• The business was not "new.'It was first approved by CASA in 2006. There was no change to the business structure during its decade of operations apart from updating procedures as regulatory changes required.
  
• The Ombudsman found that CASA was "generally" aware of my business  for over  a decade, although Mr Aleck, the CASA Executive Manager of Legal, International, and Regulatory Affairs claims he was not "personally" aware throughout the decade.
  
• Mr Aleck first became aware of my business in September or October of 2018, more than a decade after it commenced operations, according to him.
  
• When Mr Aleck became aware, he determined that my business was operating unlawfully, and presumably had been operating unlawfully but unnoticed by CASA for over a decade, because there was no change to that structure during the decade.
  
• The business consistently delivered industry leading levels of safety and compliance based on CASA feedback. At no stage did CASA ever raise any safety concerns with the business. There were no unsafe occurrences that compelled  Mr Aleck to act. 
  
• At no stage prior to the notification of October 23rd 2018, no concerns at all, had ever been raised by CASA regarding the "structure". In fact every aspect of the structure was fully approved by CASAs Legal Area to do exactly what it was doing and had been for the previous decade. 
  
• On October 23rd 2018, with no prior warning I was advised that I was operating in breach of CASA regulations, and was potentially subject to prosecution. The business was advised that it only had potentially as little as 7 days surety of operations.
  
• CASA called on me to provide copies of "commercial agreements" that I had with my customers.
  
• On receiving the initial notification from CASA I immediately responded in writing calling on CASA to "make a decision" based on the Master Copy of the Agreement that CASA already held, and had held for at least 2 years, that being the 2016 version.
  
• CASA advised that I had not provided copies of the Master Agreement, and that CASA did not hold copies of the Master agreement on file,which I immediately knew not to be an accurate representation of the truth.
  
• It appeared  to me that CASA had misplaced the  multiple copies of the Master agreement that had been provided to CASA on numerous occasions over previous years, by me.
  
• I provided irrefutable evidence to CASA that Agreements had been supplied on multiple occasions to the most senior of CASA personnel over previous years.
  
• CASA reluctantly conceded they had misplaced the Master  Agreement , but was able to relocate it, using the evidence I provided..
  
• The significance of that time line is that on October 23rd 2018 when Mr Aleck  sent correspondence calling for the Agreements, CASA already held the Agreements, but had misplaced those multiple copies. CASA  was not aware that they already held the Agreements until after CASA had sent the correspondence and put the trading restrictions in place. 
  

Admittedly, the matter of the misplaced Agreements, may have only been at a Regional level within the CASA Vic/Tas Office, and it is possible that the document was not misplaced at the "national "level, and it is possible that Mr Aleck did have access to that document as part of his decision making prior to the notification of October 23rd 2018. 

It is reasonable to assume  that before Mr Aleck  sent correspondence calling on  me to supply any Agreement that we had in place, that as part of that process, he would have ascertained whether or not CASA already held the very document that he was seeking.  

Not only did Mr Aleck not review any of our procedures for operational control contained within FSM, but he potentially deemed that my existing contractual arrangements were not suitable, yet he had not even reviewed or assessed the existing arrangement, or so it would appear.

I acknowledge that Mr Aleck does not believe that it was necessary to have an understanding of the businesses operational control systems. I strongly disagree, however I note his opinion. 

However, if it is the Commercial Agreement specifically that Mr Aleck had identified as a "problem" it would be completely incumbent upon him that he had at least viewed that document in order to determine what was "wrong". 

I hope that the significance of the allegation is not lost, and particularly as I am alleging that Mr Aleck was motivated by reasons that were not related to the safety of aviation, but rather to cause harm to me.  

I hope you can see my point. It's been confirmed that Mr Aleck never reviewed the existing procedures which alone is concerning, but if  he also determined that our existing contractual arrangements were not suitable, yet he never reviewed those existing contractual arrangements in his decision making, then that would only support my concerns that he was fabricating requirements in order to cause harm to me and my business, and his actions and decisions were not motivated by any genuine safety concerns, but rather to cause harm by misusing his significant power. 

There is no doubt in my mind that it would be impossible for Mr Aleck to identify any deficiency in any systems if he has not reviewed those existing systems. This only reinforces my view that Mr Aleck acted with targeted malice towards me. 

This is my comment only, and I do not expect the CASA ICC to make a comment against that statement above in this forum, but I acknowledge that the CASA ICC may have a more "invested" view of Mr Alecks conduct, and therefore may have a differing view than mine.  

There was no change to the business, it was doing exactly what it had been doing throughout the previous decade. There was no change to any legislation. There were no changes to the structure of the business or the personnel. There were no changes to any procedures. The business was not new or unusual. It was well established and operating in the same manner and structure as it had been doing in a safe and compliant manner for over a decade. No deficiencies have ever been identified. 

The ONLY thing that changed during the decade was that Mr Aleck personally became aware in September or October of 2018, , and based on existing acrimony between us, he may not have been well intentioned. He wields significant unchecked  power within the Organisation and it could be used inappropriately if he desired that to be so, 

To summarise this complaint. 

I had provided the "commercial agreement" to CASA on multiple occasions over previous years prior to  October of 2018. The Agreement  was distributed to the most senior of CASA personnel including the CEO of CASA at the time, and to the Executive Manager of the Aviation Group, as well as to several senior operational CASA personnel in the Vic/Tas Region, and my own CASA Certificate Management Team (CMT).

CASA always held the "commercial agreements" and had done so for years,  but CASA had "misplaced" the "commercial agreements." This significant matter is central to this matter, and cannot be overlooked. 

When CASA sent that notification on October 23rd 2018, calling for copies of the Agreement, CASA already held the Copies, and had done so for at least 2 years.

Mr Aleck initiated crippling trading restrictions on the business, based on inadequacies in our contractual arrangements, yet Mr Aleck had never looked at those contractual arrangements.

Had Mr Aleck realised that CASA already held the contracts, then it is likely he would not have sent a request for documents that he already held. This entire matter is actually indicative of significant failures to communicate within CASA. 

These are not unsupported allegations. These are statements of fact supported by evidence. Emails between CASA and myself clearly indicate that I am being truthful.

Had CASA realised that they already held the "commercial agreements:, and had done so for a number of years, it is most  likely that Mr Aleck would never have sent that initial notification calling for contracts and  placing crippling trading restrictions on the business.

Once Mr Aleck realised that CASA had erred, and that CASA had truthfully held the Agreements for a  number of years, I fully expected the trading restrictions to be lifted, and well intentioned discussion to follow. It didn't. 

I feel I should somewhat reluctantly give Mr Aleck the benefit of the doubt and I feel I need to clarify whether Mr Aleck had possibly previously located the agreement within CASA systems and whether that formed part of his decision making. I have to consider that the Agreements provided on multiple occasions to multiple senior relevant CASA personnel was misplaced at a more "local" level, and that CASA Head Office may have realised that they already held the Agreement. 

My Complaint 

Mr Aleck made no attempt to assess any of our procedures for operational control at any point of time ever.  

Mr Aleck did not access our FSM operational control procedures before sending the notification of October 23rd 2018. 

Significantly Mr Aleck still did not access our FSM operational control procedures between October 23 rd 2018 through until June 30th 2019 whilst the crippling trading restrictions were in place, and he was "considering" the matter. 

Significantly at the time of determining that the business could not continue after July 1st 2019 because he could not personally be satisfied, Mr Aleck still had not even so much as glanced at our FSM Operational Control Procedures. 

These are statements of fact that CASA has previously confirmed with me, so is important background to my complaint although it is not the complaint that is the subject of this correspondence. 

In this complaint in support of my allegation of misfeasance in public office and providing false and misleading information to a Commonwealth Ombudsman investigation. 

• CASA held copies of my Commercial  Agreement and had held the most recent copy for over 2 years.
  
• Through absolutely no fault of my own, CASA had misplaced the previously provided Master Agreement at Regional level. That is a Statement of fact and that has been confirmed by CASA.
  
• I cannot definitively state that the previously provided Agreement was also misplaced at a National level, rather than only at Regional level, and at this stage I cannot definitively state that Mr Aleck did not ever review our existing Agreement, although it does seem unlikely that he did.
  
• Can CASA clearly identify to me whether Mr Aleck had considered the Agreement that had previously been provided to CASA on multiple occasions over previous years, on or before 23rd October 23rd 2018. 
  
• Can you advise the date that Mr Aleck first became aware that CASA already held the Agreements. 
  

Thank you in anticipation of your prompt attention to my complaint. 

Respectfully, Glen Buckley

MTF...P2