[Peetwo]

Hansard is out…

CASA

Senator XENOPHON: Let me put something to you in relation to that report, in which Senator Fawcett played a pivotal role—I want to acknowledge his role in that very comprehensive report, and the role of the secretariat. That report raised some serious concerns about CASA's interactions with the ATSB in terms of information sharing. I do not think it is unfair to say that there was broad concern that CASA may have withheld information from the ATSB, contrary to the MoU, that revealed deficiencies in CASA's oversight of Pel-Air. My question to you is: how has the culture in CASA changed, or how will it change, to ensure that those concerns and findings in the Senate report will not be repeated?


[ltr]Mr Skidmore : With regard to ensuring that we have good lines of communication between the ATSB and CASA, that is part of the memorandum of understanding that we are in the process of reviewing with the ATSB right now, so I will ensure that that is picked up in that review.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: I am happy to ask you further questions on this, because it was quite a seminal report about aviation safety investigations and interrelationship between the agencies. Further, in respect of that report, you may be aware of the significant regulatory failures found within Pel-Air by CASA after the ditching, both in that special audit and in the Chambers report. Does the former chief pilot of Pel-Air, who was with the company when these breaches occurred, now hold, or has he held recently, a regulatory compliance position within CASA?[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Skidmore : I cannot answer that with my estimation—[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: Mr Farquharson may know.[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Farquharson : I am aware that he did.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: This is something that Senator Heffernan was particularly interested in, in terms of the former chief pilot of Pel-Air working with CASA.[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Farquharson : I am aware that he did join CASA. I am not sure whether he is still with us.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: Could you take that on notice, please, and if he did leave, on what date did he leave?[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: That was with regard to the downgrading of the incident judgement call.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: Yes. What due diligence did CASA undertake to ensure this individual was not responsible for the many and significant breaches found within Pel-Air and was arguably unsuitable to hold such a role within CASA? I am happy if you take it on notice, but it is a key—[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Skidmore : I think we will have to take it on notice. [/ltr]

AirServices Australia (ps it’s a doozy..   )(pps includes Aviation & Airports)

CHAIR: Thank you very much for that. Tell me what Mr Jason Harfield does.


[ltr]Mr Rodwell : Jason Harfield is—[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: The allegation I have is that he has been given a job, but it is a no-man's-land job.[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : Senator, would it be all right if I answered that?[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: Yes. As you know there is a bit of s-h-i-t going on.[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : Thank you, Senator. Jason Harfield is the Executive General Manager, Future Service Delivery. That is the program delivering our new, replacement air traffic control system.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: What is the difference between FSD and OneSKY?[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : OneSKY is the name we give to the program replacing the national air traffic control system. We are working with Defence on that program, so we will, for the first time in this nation's history, have a single, national air traffic control system used by both the military and the civilian sector. Future Services Delivery looks after that as well as the transformation program. In other words, making sure that the whole organisation is ready for this most significant and important change.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: Is that about a $400 million program?[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : OneSKY you are talking about, Senator? That is the portion that is around about what is for Airservices. I am a bit careful about giving the specific numbers because we are in negotiation with the preferred tenderer, but it is in that order.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: Do you use 457 visas?[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : We have done, and we have some people on 457s.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: Could you give us the details of those, on notice?[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : Yes.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: There was an allegation that some of those people are inappropriate. With the civil-military airwaves transformation, how do FSD and OneSKY weld that together? [/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : FSD is, as I said, looking after the program, which is called OneSKY—[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: This is what you call 'cutting to the chase', by the way.[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : It also, as I said, looks after making sure we are ready. There are a number of other projects that have to be delivered. We have a joint program. We have Air Force people working in that team to deliver the program on behalf of Defence and Airservices.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: We have been briefed on this and we have been through it. It seems quaint to me, but could you explain the supervision of air traffic in Adelaide being done from Melbourne?[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : I think you are referring to the integration of our terminal control units or our radar approach—one in Adelaide into Melbourne and then Cairns into Brisbane. I will ask Mr Hood—[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: I am just trying to get my head around it. The average punter who flies into Adelaide would probably like to think that the air traffic controller is in that control tower area and that he can see that storm cloud over there and that plane that is too low over there. But, if it is someone in Melbourne and the camera is not focused on that particular sector—[/ltr]

[ltr]Ms Staib : Traffic landing in Adelaide and taking off from Adelaide will continue to be controlled by our people in the tower. That is because you do need visual.[/ltr]

[ltr]CHAIR: That is what I thought! [/ltr]

ATSB

Senator XENOPHON: You do not think there is a risk of a perception of Caesar judging Caesar with respect to this?

[ltr]Mr Dolan : I think there is a possibility of that perception. The other point I would make is that the only power to reopen an investigation of a safety matter of this kind is under the TSI Act and must be with the ATSB.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: So there is no capacity to outsource it to another similar body? In other words, could you ask the Canadian TSB to do the investigation de novo?[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Dolan : No.[/ltr]

[ltr]Senator XENOPHON: There is no capacity in the legislation?[/ltr]

[ltr]Mr Dolan : As I understand it there is no capacity, and the requirement is in the end that the commission of the ATSB consider the final report and publish it. [/ltr]

Read and enjoy it was one of the most positive RRAT Senate Estimates I have ever witnessed & the Senators remain very focussed on keeping the bureaucrats honest...

MTF...