[Peetwo]

Like a broken record -

Obfuscation rule 101: When you really don't want to do anything but still want to look good in front of the cameras and be seen to be politically proactive, what do you do? - Call a review - FDS!    
 

'K';

It’s an open secret that DDDD is going to release a ‘statement’ tomorrow;

Will he announce that he is switching hair products? Perhaps he will announce that all Ministers now have selfie sticks included in their annual allowances? Maybe he will announce that he finally knows the phonetic alphabet which will assist him to have 'meaningful dialect with industry stakeholders'? Or will he announce that CAsA will be renamed and receive a new set of Ministerial expectations? Which is the usual response when they are in deep shit and need a quick, easy deflection from the real issues!

Will Chester write his own media release, or will the kiddies in PMC write it for him? Guess we know the answer to that.

Can't wait to compare Creepy's and Bingers analysis of this exciting announcement! Something tells me it will be chalk and cheese.

'Safe, well scripted bogus announcements for all'.

Here we go:

Review may halt sector’s dive

12:00amMITCHELL BINGEMANN

The federal government is planning a major review to assess the forces destroying Australia’s general aviation sector.

The federal government will kick off a major review today to assess the forces destroying Australia’s once-vibrant general aviation sector, which is being strangled by red tape and onerous costs.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester will announce the review, which will be conducted by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

“I am keen to remove barriers to growth in this vital part of the aviation industry, including reducing costs and regulatory burden,” Mr Chester said.

“General aviation has a rich history in Australia and I’m confident it can have a prosperous future. This study will help get the public policy right to support growth in the sector.”

As part of the study the Civil Aviation Safety Authority will also be ordered to review private pilot medical requirements, a key issue for the GA sector.

The government said the study will cover a range of issues, including “assessing the key drivers and influences on the sector”.

“That means identifying trends, what the economic, demographic, and regulatory factors behind these trends are, as well as outlining the key challenges facing the industry,” Mr Chester said

Representatives from the GA sector will be offered the opportunity to assist with the work. Mr Chester will also ask the General Aviation Action Group, formerly a subgroup of the Aviation Industry Consultative Council, to report directly to him in future.

“The action group will also act as a reference group for the BITRE general aviation study,” Mr Chester said. “I am looking forward to seeing the results of this study as we work with industry and other key stakeholders on the common goal of a safe, growing and sustainable Australian general aviation industry.”

The review comes after months of vocal dissent from industry groups including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Australian Aviation Associations Forum, which have railed against what they describe as the death of Australian general aviation.

Earlier this year the AOPA — which represents 2600 general aviation aircraft owners and pilots in private, commercial charter and airline operations across Australia — issued its 130-page Eureka report, a scathing indictment of aviation bureaucracies that blamed creeping over-regulation for a dramatic decline in aircraft movements at secondary airports, a drastic reduction in aviation mechanical engineering apprenticeships and the destruction of small aviation businesses.

The review comes after The Australian revealed data in August — collated by AOPA using CASA, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics sources — showing the number of GA pilots in Australia had plummeted 34 per cent (by about 8000 licensees) since 2000. In the same period aviation fuel consumption fell 35 per cent. Aircraft registrations fell 13 per cent since 2000 and 53 per cent since 2007.

AOPA executive director Ben Morgan said the review would finally put an end to the debate regarding the large-scale decline of Australian general aviation.

“For too long general aviation has suffered under an overly bureaucratic regulatory framework that has driven up costs, reduced competitiveness and sent businesses broke,” Mr Morgan told The Australian. “The minister now has a unique opportunity to hit the reset button and to address the significant declines that have been caused by regulatory mismanagement.”

 DDDD -“I am keen to remove barriers to growth in this vital part of the aviation industry, including reducing costs and regulatory burden,” Mr Chester said.

“General aviation has a rich history in Australia and I’m confident it can have a prosperous future. This study will help get the public policy right to support growth in the sector.”

- Hmmm...why does that sound so familiar -

Who was it that once said - In doing this, I acknowledge the concerns being expressed by some sectors of the aviation industry, in particular general and regional aviation, about the costs of regulatory compliance and how outcomes of the current aviation safety regulatory reform programme compare with regulatory approaches in other countries.

Here's a hint:

 


&..

Release of the Report of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review

On 3 June 2014, the former Deputy Prime Minister released the Report of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review.

• Former Deputy Prime Minister's statement to Parliament
  
• Former Deputy Prime Minister's media release
  
• Report of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review PDF: 1598 KB 
  
• Executive Summary and Recommendations PDF: 340 KB 
  
• Public and Industry Comments on the Aviation Safety Regulation Review Report.
  

For the miniscule IMO it is worth reflecting on this bit of advice (via Proaviation) from TAAAF some months ago :

Welcome back Minister, now let’s get on with it!

The Australian Aviation Associations Forum has welcomed Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester on his reappointment to what he  describes as “this critical ministerial position for Australia’s economy, job creation and the aviation industry.”

But the TAAAF’s welcome comes with a continued push for the Minister to steer back onto the course mapped out by the Forsyth Review’s 37 recommendations.

The TAAAF is a broad-ranging group of separate industry bodies representing aircraft owners & pilots, aerial agricultural/application industry, aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses, business aviation operators, charter and flying training organisations, UAV (“drone”) operators, helicopter services, regional airlines, and sport fliers including homebuilt, gliders, warbird and other recreational aviators.

All TAAAF members are urging the Minister, “as a matter of priority, to issue a strong Statement of Expectations to CASA to specifically reinforce the primacy of the CASA Board.

“Forum participants highlight the value of creating a new partnership with industry, as outlined in the Forum 2016 aviation policy and continue to be disappointed with the lack of action in critical areas from CASA.

“The Forum expresses frustration at the disarray of the regulatory system, with new regulations likely to continue to remove jobs and opportunities from the industry through increased costs for no safety outcome.

“The Forum calls on the Minister to direct the CASA Board to establish a small joint industry action taskforce to fix clearly identified problems.

“The work program of the taskforce must include urgent remedies especially for CAO 48.1, but also CASR Parts 61/141/142/ 101/121/135 and the aviation medical area.

“The Forum identifies significant cultural change and systemic issues that are still not being corrected and which require immediate attention by the CASA Board.

“In particular, the Forum expresses continuing concern with the lack of progress in the genuine implementation of the previously-agreed Forsyth recommendations and would welcome the re-engagement of Mr David Forsyth to conduct a review and public report on actual outcomes to date.

“In addition, there remain many outstanding issues of concern that are yet to be resolved including:

• Fitment schedule of ADS-B in Australia
  
• Lack of harmonisation of Australian regulations with our major trading partners
  
• Negative training impacts on both flying training and maintenance providers
  
• Proposed deregulation of RPAS (‘drones’) below 2 kg and even up to 25kg
  
• Non-standardisation of CASA regulatory interpretations between regions
  

“The TAAAF Aviation Policy 2016 provides a wide range of appropriate expert advice on aviation issues and the TAAAF participants recommend the policies to the Government for further consultation and implementation.”

David Forsyth’s government-commissioned Aviation Safety Regulation Review clearly identified industry’s three highest concerns across all submissions as:

• the regulatory reform program (136 submissions considered this to be top priority);
  
• CASA’s inflexible regulatory approach (120 submissions); and
  
• the need for more promotion of aviation (90 submissions).
  

Another of the review’s observations was that:

While CASA appears to be trusted by many in government, the industry’s trust in CASA is failing, compromising CASA’s Stewardship, and industry perceives CASA’s Accountability as being compromised. (The Panel’s highlighting.)

Forum members contacted by ProAviation are still scanning the horizon for any initiative that will begin to restore the trust they believe has now been progressively squandered for more than a quarter of a century.

Obfuscation rule 102: Divide & Conquer.

Now the miniscule might think his statement today is addressing the above TAAAF concerns but it is quite obvious that this is yet another stalling tactic by the bureaucracy.

Murky and his minions are still trying to argue the toss that the ASRR is one opinion.

Ironically that one opinion just so happens to reflect the opinion of the biggest collective group of industry participants (i.e. TAAAF).

It is my understanding that AOPA is now included as an active TAAAF member, so why is the miniscule apparently now trying to drive a wedge between different sectors of the industry i.e. General Aviation - GA vs rest of industry??  

IMO the term "GA" is doing the industry a huge disservice. They don't call other transport sectors 'General Trucking' or 'General Marine'; so why do they differentiate with aviation? It is small to medium aviation businesses and/or airlines, MROs, Flying schools, AOC holders, private & recreational pilot/owners and aviation/aerospace manufacturing - FDS!   

MTF...P2