[Gobbledock]

Senator Nick Xenophon calls for investigation into Airservices Australia cuts

WED FEB 15 10:20:11 EST 2017

Senator Nick Xenophon sits on the Senate committee to which Airservices answers and is demanding an immediate stop to the organisation's retrenchments until an independent investigation has been conducted.

Video link of Nick here;

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-15...fmredir=sm

The spineless and testicle deficient Houston has gone to ground (as usual) and Harfwit has been running around Can'tberra with his buccular flapping about in a flurry.

Can you imagine today's crisis meeting? Pumpkin Head MrDak fitting through the office door sideways due to his large melon, black eyes staring out Harfwit. Toot toot Bus driver Houstoblame sitting silent as usual, hoping young Harfwit will put his foot in his mouth and take the fall without Houstoblame raising a single blade! NFI Chester doing his impersonation of a kangaroo caught in a cars headlights, the poor dear is totally lost and doesn't understand what the boys are talking about! Something about risk, safety, coverups and failure. Who knows. Just bring me some more tanning lotion and bryl cream bellows out Chester.

Tick Tock? You got that right.

[Kharon]

GD – “Can you imagine today's crisis meeting?”

We were all intrigued with this notion; so, activating one of our drones, disguised as a pizza delivery vehicle, the mission was launched. The following ‘vision’ has been edited to protect the innocent, but the winning of the prize part (at the end) made the risk worthwhile.

We regret that 'vision' of the Whostoblame training session - limbering up for the championship round of Bus stop Push and shove was lost; due pineapple contamination. ATSB will investigate - eventually. CASA was unavailable for comment - everyone is in Montreal.

[Peetwo]

On FOI requests & word weasel confections -

In an effort to track down the documents released under the ABC's FOI request, I made a visit to the ASA FOI Disclosure Log. Unfortunately if you refer to the FOI Dislosure Log webpage - see HERE - you will discover that the last entry was on the 28 August 2015 and in fact the last update ( website administrative visit) was on 30 September 2015.

'Passing strange' that the ASA FOI requests appeared to have either dried up or ASA were disclosing less at around about the same time that Harfwit took over from Margaret Staib in the Acting CEO role...

While trolling FOI Logs, I decided to pay M&M's FDL a revisit and I was surprised to see a recent entry on the ASA subject matter...   

30/01/17

Communications regarding changes to Airservices Australia (17-002)PDF: 261 KB PDF: 261 KB PDF: 94 KB PDF: 26 KB PDF: 99 KB

Now this is where it gets interesting because the first two PDF files are actually copies of correspondence from miniscule 4D to; 1) AOPA's President Marc De Stoop in reply to the AOPA Oz 'Project Eureka' paper; & 2) to TAAAF's Chair Greg Russell in reply to TAAAF Aviation Policy 2016.

I guess the reason why these two letters fall into the scope of the FOI request is because both the 'Project Eureka' paper and TAAAF policy suggested selling off Airservices Australia.

4D AOPA letter excerpt:

And to share the rejection around a copy & paste to the TAAAF letter, plus a slap down on some of the other TAAAF proposed recommendations that fall outside the scope of the Forsyth report..

4D TAAAF excerpts: 

      
After reading both letters - that have obviously been copied & pasted, carefully crafted 'word weasel confections' by some back office M&M minion - it is quite apparent that once again our miniscule for NFI is nothing more than a carefully managed Muppet to the M&M empire - FDS!

Sorry thread drift

However miniscule bollocks aside, in light of the latest revelations from the other Aunty and the ASA inability to properly utilise the full safety benefits of the ADS-B , one part of the 4D WW_Confection I think the 4D Muppetmasters should be concerned with:

Just saying - But how's that working out for you, oh carefully manicured & coiffured miniscule for NFI?? 

MTF...P2

[Pixie P]

'Flash, slick, full of hot air' is an excellent character assessment. I don't claim to be an expert in the field, being more comfortable with minor excisions, lesions and the odd bit of suturing.. Which brings me to the medical analogy for CASA and Chester et al. If the appendix or kidney is inflamed, we wisely treat with antibiotics these days. Initially at least. However, given a recurring infection or inflammation that doesn't respond to any amount of curative therapies.. well it's time to bite the bullet, sharpen the scalpel and excise the failing or septic organ.
The question of course is just how widespread the problem is. Was it localised to that one area, or was / is it systemic?
Surely the aforementioned entities (Chester, CASA) are beyond the 'fix with care and therapy' stage and a more surgical approach needs to be taken?
The body as a whole is much better off without the toxins.
Mind you, given that it's 4 in the morning.. Perhaps my zeal to heal needs to be tempered with some sound sleep...

[Kharon]

Welcome Pixie P; a choc frog first post is not too shabby an effort. You are in good company when it comes to understanding the ‘4 am’ feeling after a long shift, there’d be very few pilots and aircrew who did not. Even fewer who’d change it; any of it, ‘tis a sort of madness, hate it when it’s happening; but, a couple of days off and there you are, looking forward to doing it all over again. It never was just a job you do to pay the rent.

Common sense cannot deny our ‘safety’ agencies are beyond saving; a mercy killing is the best answer. Quick and painless; but it takes courage and caring to ‘pull the plug’, commodities which are in short supply in the miniscules office.

Enough of that; nice to see you ‘on the boards’.

Toot toot.

[Pixie P]

It's always a great relief to lose your 'virgin' status.☺ As with every 'first time' it isn't a particularly accomplished or memorable performance, but posts.. like wine.. usually improve with time.
Very happy to be here!

Now if I could just find my bed without stumbling into a door or wall...

LOL - welcome Pix & sweet dreams...P2

[Peetwo]

Update: The Oz (Cleary) v Aunty (Sveen/Sturmer).

Reference: 

Coupled with the 4D letters to the TAAAF & AOPA - HERE -  the next part of the Cleary offering makes me suspicious that we are about to witness the pushback from M&M and his minions... :

...Pilots who fly with the major airlines say that safety is being compromised. But the regulatory cost on the industry is also being increased by alarmist concerns about the standard of air traffic control.

Airservices Australia, which is responsible for air safety at all of Australia’s commercial airports, is trying to cut costs through a program known as Accelerate.

Airservices chief executive Jason Harfield said the cuts to back-office staff were needed to reduce costs.

He said the Accelerate program, which will cut 700 jobs, was needed to “minimise the cost burden on Australian aviation while continuing to safely perform our critical air navigation and aviation rescue fire fighting roles”.

Airservices has seen an “unsustainable” increase in overall staff numbers over the past 10 years, rising from 2996 employees in 2006 to 4468 employees in 2016.

Jim Davis, who chairs Regional Aviation Association of Australia, said he told the ABC this week that he had no concerns about air traffic control safety. He was asked by a journalist if the cuts would affect regional airports.

“I said there is no impact on operational safety issues with the changes Airservices Australia are making. I said that a couple of times. We are happy at this stage because the changes are not in a critical areas,” he said.

The ABC reported this week that the Accelerate program had created a “crisis” in air traffic control and it could cause an air disaster.

I gather the quotes are from this spiteful piece: 

ABC’s ‘selective’ safety reports
12:00amPAUL CLEARY
The ABC may have breached its charter by not reporting industry comments about air safety contrary to its reports.

Now it could be that this is a typical Newscorp v ABC journalistic ding-dong but from past experience, when the Oz was neutered by the government and it's self-serving aviation safety agencies under former aviation editor and CASA-sexual Steve Creepy, I am very cynical and suspect...  Especially when you consider some of the Aunty Pru archived 'that man' Higgins contributions on the subject of ASA & OneSKY trough funds etc..etc
Examples:

#26 Pilots, victims’ families call for change as planes fly blind

#40 Aviation watchdog CASA shares safety role  

#27 Pilots forced to weather cloudy service  

Helpful hints for Cleary...   Besides referring to your work colleague Ean Higgin's archive of articles on the diabolical shenanigans at ASA, please refer to the PAIN Youtube archive: https://www.youtube.com/user/004wercras/...shelf_id=0 

Hint: Look for tags and/or titles with words like Airservices, performance, OneSKY, ANAO, KPMG, dodgy deals, audit or even Aunty Pru...

Examples:

The feud continues -

Via the ABC Media Manager:

Response to The Australian, 17 February 2017
Posted 17th February 2017
Share

•  
  

The Australian’s journalist Paul Cleary has made a number of false claims in his report “ABC’s selective safety reports” (The Australian, 17 February 2017) concerning an ABC News investigation into safety issues at Airservices Australia.

Mr Cleary was told in no uncertain terms that his accusation that the ABC journalists who reported this story had omitted interviews with two major industry bodies was wrong. Furthermore Mr Cleary failed to properly record the ABC’s response to his false claims.

The statement given to Mr Cleary, which he failed to include in his story, said: ABC News attempted to get comment from the AIPA multiple times, more than a week before the story was published, but it did not provide any statement or anyone to be interviewed. No one from the RAAA was interviewed, so no comments were omitted. The reporters spoke to dozens of current and former Airservices Australia employees throughout the investigation into the organisation, over several months. Every person interviewed on-the-record was included in the report.

The crucial elements of the investigative report were the differing views inside Airservices Australia itself as to the safety implications. A further report, aired later the same day on NewsRadio and conducted by a different reporter, reported on the industry views on this issue.

The ABC has sought a correction by The Australian to repair this record.
 
ENDS
For more information
Nick Leys
Media Manager, Corporate Affairs
[i]leys.nick@abc.net.au[/i]

Air-traffic job cuts would not have been approved if they posed risk to public safety, aviation expert

Duration: 5:08 
First posted 15/02/2017 14:02:12
[/font][/b]Download audio[/size]

Job cuts have left the government body responsible for Australia's aviation safety in crisis, with one executive telling the ABC that it's "only a matter of time" before there's a catastrophic accident.
Senior officials at Air Services Australia have provided damning accounts claiming the organisation is now "a huge risk to public safety", following a cost-cutting program which saw 700 staff lose their jobs.
Airservices Australia is adamant the redundancies will not affect operational air traffic controllers and therefore have no impact on safety.
Neil Hansford is an Aviation expert and chairman of Strategic Aviation Solutions.
He says the cuts would never have been approved if they posed a risk to Australia's air-traffic control record.
He's speaking to NewsRadio's Scott Wales

MTF...P2


Ps Whose shout for the popcorn...

[Gobbledock]

It's all so creepy

The names 'Cleary' and 'Creepy' are similar!
Could it be that Murdock, bedmate of the Government, has decided that Bingers and 'That Man' are being too critical and so he has brought in 'Clearcreep' to paint niceties about the Government and it's dross Political leaders?

Tsk tsk Clearcreep, the IOS are watching and reading everything you pen. We won't hesitate in exposing any pony pooh dribble that you write........just sayin.

P.S Trump is correct. The MSM are a bunch of corrupt parasites in bed with big business and vested interests. They are indeed 'fake' and are a big part of why this world is sliding into a sewer.

[Kharon]

Choc Frog for Nick Leys.

Tim Tams - Sveen/Sturmer.

Has Cleary has sold his soul for a rice bowl; or, his integrity for 30 pieces of silver? For a supposed ‘investigative’ journalist he missed a lot of breadcrumbs; a whole loaf’s worth. Any honest, reasonable person who has followed the Air Services saga, from Russell through to Halfwit would be disbelieving at first, then staggered by the truth as it is slowly revealed through Senate estimates.

A billion dollar a year profit centre, raped, pillaged, abused then robbed blind. The tax payer left with a wrecked service and a huge bill to boot. That is no faery tale; it is solid fact which has been tested by the Senate standing committee at estimates; all there, faithfully recorded by Hansard.

I find it disgusting that a purported ‘crack’ journalist can be seduced into supporting the fatuous minister, the inutile Halfwit and ignore the claims of the very folk at the coal face who must work within the system to keep aircraft separated. Then, he drags up the opinions of two ‘aviation’ bodies, who, with respect, would know as much about running an ATC service as I do about bloody ballroom dancing.

Shame on Cleary; he gets a number on the PAIN list of unreliable, biased, purblind mouthpieces for the unspeakable. In good company there though, Creedy, GT etc. Aunty Pru wants every word he writes to be consigned to the ‘Tick, flick and Publish' page; where he can rot with rest of the spin crowd. – Plonker.

Aside – there is talk that Cleary was asking questions about PAIN – you all know the rules. Tell ‘em nothing, take ‘em nowhere. Cleary now clearly identified, your 'in confidence' will not be respected -

Toot toot.

[P1_aka_P1]

Confirmed by management - ALL Cleary articles to Tick& Flick; no excuses.

[Peetwo]

Update: Aunty/ATCOs/Xenophon vs The Oz(Cleary)/ASA/Harfwit

References:

Update: The Oz (Cleary) v Aunty (Sveen/Sturmer).

I gather the quotes are from this spiteful piece: 

ABC’s ‘selective’ safety reports
12:00amPAUL CLEARY
The ABC may have breached its charter by not reporting industry comments about air safety contrary to its reports.

Now it could be that this is a typical Newscorp v ABC journalistic ding-dong but from past experience, when the Oz was neutered by the government and it's self-serving aviation safety agencies under former aviation editor and CASA-sexual Steve Creepy, I am very cynical and suspect...  Especially when you consider some of the Aunty Pru archived 'that man' Higgins contributions on the subject of ASA & OneSKY trough funds etc..etc

Helpful hints for Cleary...   Besides referring to your work colleague Ean Higgin's archive of articles on the diabolical shenanigans at ASA, please refer to the PAIN Youtube archive: https://www.youtube.com/user/004wercras/...shelf_id=0 

Hint: Look for tags and/or titles with words like Airservices, performance, OneSKY, ANAO, KPMG, dodgy deals, audit or even Aunty Pru...

The feud continues -

Via the ABC Media Manager:

Response to The Australian, 17 February 2017
Posted 17th February 2017
Share

•  
  

The Australian’s journalist Paul Cleary has made a number of false claims in his report “ABC’s selective safety reports” (The Australian, 17 February 2017) concerning an ABC News investigation into safety issues at Airservices Australia.

Mr Cleary was told in no uncertain terms that his accusation that the ABC journalists who reported this story had omitted interviews with two major industry bodies was wrong. Furthermore Mr Cleary failed to properly record the ABC’s response to his false claims.

The statement given to Mr Cleary, which he failed to include in his story, said: ABC News attempted to get comment from the AIPA multiple times, more than a week before the story was published, but it did not provide any statement or anyone to be interviewed. No one from the RAAA was interviewed, so no comments were omitted. The reporters spoke to dozens of current and former Airservices Australia employees throughout the investigation into the organisation, over several months. Every person interviewed on-the-record was included in the report.

The crucial elements of the investigative report were the differing views inside Airservices Australia itself as to the safety implications. A further report, aired later the same day on NewsRadio and conducted by a different reporter, reported on the industry views on this issue.

The ABC has sought a correction by The Australian to repair this record.
 
ENDS
For more information
Nick Leys
Media Manager, Corporate Affairs
[i]leys.nick@abc.net.au[/i]

Here is where the ill-informed Cleary attack on the bona fides of the ABC article becomes quite disassociated with reality. News.com.au (i.e. mainstream NewsCorp) reported the following headline in response to the ABC revelations: Air traffic controllers facing challenges to maintain air safety:

EXTREME measures are being taken by Air Traffic Controllers to compensate for extensive job cuts, including slowing down the arrival rate of aircraft to reduce pressure on workers.

Airservices Australia has denied aviation safety is at risk from the 705 positions made redundant despite concerns expressed by Air Traffic Controllers.

The denial came after emails leaked to the ABC highlighted concerns among senior executives about the “sheer lunacy” of job cuts which had pushed the organisation to “breaking point”.

Civil Air president Tom McRobert told News Corp in December they had concerns with how “rushed” the redundancy program had been to date, with people being released from positions before proper contingencies were in place.

He confirmed measures had been taken to delay aircraft in some instances when an Air Traffic Controller had called in sick.

“It’s definitely the safe way to go. It doesn’t help the airlines run the service they need but it shouldn’t be an every day occurrence,” Mr McRobert said.

Civil Air executive secretary Peter McGuane yesterday confirmed the practice still happened “intermittently”.

“We are fortunate in that our Air Traffic Controllers are among the most highly trained, highly skilled and experienced controllers in the world,” said Mr McGuane.

“But Civil Air supports any additional examination of air traffic safety procedures by federal Parliament.”

He said the challenges faced by Air Traffic Controllers as airports got busier made it critical that Airservics Australia actively addressed the issue of fatigue.

“Air Traffic Controllers must be properly resourced with the back-up and technical support they need to get the job done,” Mr McGuane said.

“Rostering practices and adequate staffing levels make all the difference when it comes to fatigue management.”

Followed by this bollocks from Harfwit :

CEO Jason Harfield said any suggestion that Airservices Australia was compromising on safety was totally incorrect and refused.

“There is no risk to the travelling public,” said Mr Harfield.

“Airservices is safely restructuring to deliver more effective services to our customers by focusing on our core air traffic control and aviation rescue fire fighting services.”

And in later statement from the ASA spin doctors:

Airservices statement on recent ABC coverage
15 Feb 2017
[/url] [url=http://auntypru.com/forum/javascript:window.print()]
Airservices response attributed to Jason Harfield, Airservices CEO

Any suggestion that Airservices is compromising on safety is totally incorrect and refused.

There is no risk to the travelling public.

It is important to note that throughout the Accelerate Program there has been extensive union and employee consultation. Airservices takes feedback from our staff very seriously.

 How staff were able to provide feedback

Consultation with staff took place over a five week period on the make-up of the new team designs, including several ‘townhalls’ style meetings with executive managers in the major centres for staff to ask questions.

Staff were also given the opportunity to submit queries or feedback directly through their managers or via email. The Airservices ethics hotline is available for staff as well as a dedicated safety reporting system that can be accessed through the organisations intranet.

Almost 2000 queries or feedback were received from staff, which were considered and responded to, in the final team designs.

 The role of the NOC

The questions put forward by the ABC misrepresent the role of Airservices National Operations Centre. The NOC is a point of liaison between air traffic control, airline and the airports for traffic demand and capacity issues. The NOC provides updated weather information from the Bureau of Meteorology to help airlines with scheduling issuing 24 hours prior. The NOC does not directly engage with aircraft.

As part of our broader business changes, this unit has been streamlined and work patterns have changed because we can provide this service more efficiently, while ensuring the safety of our operations. The change involves shifting from a dual/duplicated supervisor model to one where all supervision tasks are performed by a single point of authority.

 How we are transforming Airservices

Airservices provides services that safely move more than 150 million passengers on more than four million flights every year.

Airservices is safely restructuring to deliver more effective services to our customers by focussing on our core air traffic control and aviation rescue fire fighting services.

These changes do not effect or involve operational and rostered air traffic controllers and aviation rescue fire fighters, in fact they are quarantined from these changes.

Throughout the life of the Accelerate Program information and changes have been oversighted by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Airservices has and will continue to work through a detailed and rigorous process which sees every VR application, or IVR consideration, assessed individually to determine any potential impact on the safety of our operations.

The staff headcount at the end of 2016 was 3691 employees, a net reduction of 705 people over the course of the calendar year comprised of 922 employee exits and the recruitment of 217 employees as we started bringing necessary new skills and experience into the business.

Airservices began providing information regarding the transformation to the regulator from May 2016. This included Airservices new operating model, a formal Safety Plan which detailed the overall safety management activities in support of the Accelerate Program and providing routine updates to the regulator via face to face briefings, phone and email as the program moved through each phase.

Safety cases

Importantly Airservices is working through a detailed and thorough process to reduce the size of our business and ensure the safety of our operations is maintained as we continue to deliver our important services to our customers.

Safety has been assured by a rigorous and thorough process, delivered in line with the Program timelines. All ‘risk assessments or safety assurances’ have been conducted in adherence with these pre-determined timelines, as shown in the attached document.

Any suggestions that the assessments were impacted by Senate Estimates is totally incorrect as shown in the pre-determined timelines (attached) and in the CEO’s testimony in the Hansard from that Estimates hearing.

However I ask Harfwit how is it remotely possible to believe this latest ASA propaganda that tries to create the image of a full, frank and independent 1 billion dollar a year peerless Government enterprise when as CEO it would appear he has completely shutdown Airservices Australia's compliance and responsibilities to the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982:

On FOI requests & word weasel confections -

In an effort to track down the documents released under the ABC's FOI request, I made a visit to the ASA FOI Disclosure Log. Unfortunately if you refer to the FOI Dislosure Log webpage - see HERE - you will discover that the last entry was on the 28 August 2015 and in fact the last update ( website administrative visit) was on 30 September 2015.

'Passing strange' that the ASA FOI requests appeared to have either dried up or ASA were disclosing less at around about the same time that Harfwit took over from Margaret Staib in the Acting CEO role...

Q/ Dear ATP (Australian Tax Payer) would you believe this man??

MTF...P2  

[Kharon]

If it quacks like a Duck.

P2 – “In an effort to track down the documents released under the ABC's FOI request, I made a visit to the ASA FOI Disclosure Log. Unfortunately if you refer to the FOI Disclosure Log webpage - see HERE - you will discover that the last entry was on the 28 August 2015 and in fact the last update (website administrative visit) was on 30 September 2015.”

That Sir, is an interesting little sidebar. I would like to know a little more, the ‘timing’ could be coincidental; but then again – given the ructions about then – you have to wonder.

So what’s happened to the FOI requests? Perhaps there simply have not been any FOI requests made during the period; unlikely, but possible. Perhaps due to a staff shortage there is no one to update the records – nah; Halfwit reckons he had 900 too many on the books; so that’s a non sequitur. Which leaves us with the notion that the FOI requests are being knocked back, therefore no update required.

The intensive, probing Estimates questioning before the Staib departure and the hiatus which followed, should, IMO have prompted a barrage of questions. There was a CEO up to her arse in alligators, some very awkward questions to which answers were being demanded; and, the Halfwit white ants as busy as hell. Shirley, some bright media spark, at very least, would be curious enough to go the FOI route. Maybe someone did and the requests were all knocked back – hence a clean disclosure log for what – 18 months. Well, you do have the right to remain silent rather than incriminate yourself. I wonder if it has come to the stage where a 'full dress' criminal investigation is the only answer to the ever deepening pit the ASA is digging; it would clear the air (so to speak).

Toot toot

[Peetwo]

Harfwit the 'match fit' journo - WTD    

If it quacks like a Duck.

P2 – “In an effort to track down the documents released under the ABC's FOI request, I made a visit to the ASA FOI Disclosure Log. Unfortunately if you refer to the FOI Disclosure Log webpage - see HERE - you will discover that the last entry was on the 28 August 2015 and in fact the last update (website administrative visit) was on 30 September 2015.”

That Sir, is an interesting little sidebar. I would like to know a little more, the ‘timing’ could be coincidental; but then again – given the ructions about then – you have to wonder.

So what’s happened to the FOI requests? Perhaps there simply have not been any FOI requests made during the period; unlikely, but possible. Perhaps due to a staff shortage there is no one to update the records – nah; Halfwit reckons he had 900 too many on the books; so that’s a non sequitur. Which leaves us with the notion that the FOI requests are being knocked back, therefore no update required.

The intensive, probing Estimates questioning before the Staib departure and the hiatus which followed, should, IMO have prompted a barrage of questions. There was a CEO up to her arse in alligators, some very awkward questions to which answers were being demanded; and, the Halfwit white ants as busy as hell. Shirley, some bright media spark, at very least, would be curious enough to go the FOI route. Maybe someone did and the requests were all knocked back – hence a clean disclosure log for what – 18 months. Well, you do have the right to remain silent rather than incriminate yourself. I wonder if it has come to the stage where a 'full dress' criminal investigation is the only answer to the ever deepening pit the ASA is digging; it would clear the air (so to speak).

Toot toot

This week on the case of the 'rapidly shrinking OneSKY trough fund', somewhat bizarrely Harfwit is now resorting to pitching for his job via the Oz:

Airservices changes necessary

12:00amJASON HARFIELD

The Australian aviation industry is one of the safest in the world. P2 As a bio-line you can already tell that the Harfwit pitch is a comedy & work of fiction...

 Or maybe he is pitching for the Oz aviation editor job...

Has anyone told him that it will come with a substantial paycut??    


MTF...P2

Ps AuntyPru Poll Q/ Would you trust the Muppet in the electric blue suit?

[Peetwo]

Harfwit spins the light fantastic at Senate Estimates -

Latest in the AP poll: Q/ Would you trust the Muppet in the electric blue suit?

Senate Estimates via Youtube last night:

&.. (P2 comment - Note the umistakable body language from Senator Nash... )

MTF...P2

[Kharon]

Here you have it ATCO’s; the CASA safety vision; and good luck with it. Seems all is well in Halfwit’s cartoon world; at least now you don’t have to wear those poofy bracelets; so that’s a win.

[Gobbledock]

Of electric blue suits, flappy buccula's and audit reports

Whilst there is much excitement at the moment within 'the mystique of aviation' as we watch the Senate Estimates, the ATsB investigate the Essendon crash, the 'non-going' PelAir investigation, the MH370 clusterfu#k, and a Minister that is as intelligent as a fossilised turd, we mustn't forget that the ANAO is scheduled to release its audit report this month into Airservices actions pertaining to;

(From the ANAO website)
1. Was the OneSKY tender process based on a sound business case and appropriate Defence, Airservices and joint governance arrangements?
2. Did the tender process result in the transparent selection of a successful tender that provided the best whole-of-life value for money solution at an acceptable level of cost, technical and schedule risk, consistent with the Request for Tender?
3. Did negotiations with the successful tenderer result in constructive contractual arrangements that ensured continuity of safe air traffic services, the managed insertion of an optimum system of systems outcome within required timeframes, and demonstrable value?

It will be interesting to see if there is a climax to the investigation or if all we are left with is a wet patch on our jeans. I'm sure Harfwit is preparing a written article for Creepy's former newspaper, shining up the electric blue suit and trying to tuck the unsightly buccula behind the collar and tie. And I am sure that the wily spineless bus driver is preparing an escape route for himself and a drop off point for passenger Harfwit should offering up of a scalp to the Senate gods become a necessary sacrifice to be made for one to survive.

All aboard toot 'Tick Tock' toot

[Peetwo]

OneSKY the next Aussie 'Great White Elephant'??

Reference ANAO website:

Conduct of the OneSKY Tender

Report preparation

Contribution has closed

Due to table: March, 2017


Portfolio: Infrastructure and Regional Development; Defence; Finance

Entity: Airservices Australia; Department of Defence; Department of Finance

The objective of this audit is to assess whether the OneSKY tender was conducted so as to provide value with public resources and achieve required timeframes for the effective replacement of the existing air traffic management platforms.

Audit criteria

1. Was the OneSKY tender process based on a sound business case and appropriate Defence, Airservices and joint governance arrangements?
   
2. Did the tender process result in the transparent selection of a successful tender that provided the best whole-of-life value for money solution at an acceptable level of cost, technical and schedule risk, consistent with the Request for Tender?
   
3. Did negotiations with the successful tenderer result in constructive contractual arrangements that ensured continuity of safe air traffic services, the managed insertion of an optimum system of systems outcome within required timeframes, and demonstrable value?
   

The following article from FlightGlobal perhaps points to why Harfwit is so desperately trying to flog off the ASA furniture and justify culling 700 of his staff...

Australia's OneSky implementation slips

• 01 March, 2017
  
• SOURCE: Flight International
  
• BY: Emma Kelly
  
• Melbourne
  

Implementation of Australia’s pioneering OneSky civil-military air traffic management system (CMATS) has slipped by at least two years as Airservices Australia, the Department of Defence and Thales finalise plans for the complex programme.

Canberra announced Thales as the successful contractor for the then A$600 million ($460 million) programme at the 2015 Avalon air show. The project will see the replacement of Airservices’ civil The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) and the Australian Defence Air Traffic System (ADATS) with a single, harmonised system. Both TAAATS and ADATS are approaching the end of their service lives and are unable to cope with forecast traffic growth.

Under the original plan, the new CMATS was to be implemented in phases, starting in 2018 and resulting in final operational capability in 2020/21.

CMATS full operational capability is now expected in 2023, with transition activities starting in 2018, including a new voice communication system, according to Rodney Sciortino, OneSky integration manager.

Airservices attributes the delay to the complexity of the commercial arrangements and the complexity of the programme itself. “This is the first of its kind in the world. It’s worth getting it right,” says Stephen Angus, executive general manager air navigation services at Airservices Australia.

The partners now have stability in Airservices’ and Defence’s “cocktail of requirements”, says Sciortino. Considerable progress has been made over the last six months in particular, with a minor amount of contractual arrangements still to be finalised, says Angus. The next steps include detailed programme scheduling and integration planning.

Key features of CMATS will include wake turbulence alerts, airport collaborative decision making, conflict detection with special use airspace, ATC sector flexibility, a single flight information region, enhanced conflict detection and long range air traffic flow management. It will support seamless upgrades, provide enhanced resilience, service continuity and the flexible use of airspace, Airservices says.

Airservices has recently invested in further enhancements to TAAATS and is confident the system is sustainable through to 2023, says Angus.

OneSky has been the subject of investigation by the Australian National Audit Office, with a first report issued last year raising concerns about Airservices’ procurement processes. A second ANAO report, which is due to be tabled this month, is investigating whether the OneSky tender provides value with public resources and achieves required timeframes for the effective replacement of the existing ATM systems.

Angus says Airservices is confident that the programme does provide value for money for the country, although the service provider declines to detail current costs for the programme.

MTF...P2

Ps

The industry has "acquired institutionalised ostrichitis syndrome" (AIOS).





So, stand by for regular repeats of AF-447 and QZ8501.


Clues:
confusion, befuddlement, bewilderment, puzzlement, perplexity, disconcertment, discomposure, daze, fog, muddle, etc ........

 'BREAKING NEWS' - A virulent airborne strain of the 'Acute Institutionalised Ostrichitis Syndrome' - AIOS aka the 'Can'tberra disease' (reference - AIOS - & the 21st Century??) - has been detected. in a AQIS air quality sample, in close proximity to the Avalon Airport. Standby for further updates.

[P7_TOM]

For my sins, I lost a bet to ‘the lad’; own fault, should have known better. Strolled into the workshop at about beer-o’clock (Tassie oak {recycled} shavings knee deep), nodded at the tap and received a two finger gesture, which I took to mean two off. After a short interval, the in use tool was put down, the glass picked up and with a wicked grin “cough up” says he. “What was it” says I – “two beers or a six pack?” “Nah” came the retort, “penance”. The old rule was to be played. “You managed to escape UP watch, but there are some things I can’t do which you can; you must watch the ASA video and get things moving.”

I know he can’t watch Halfwit without a bucket handy, even if in a sanguine frame of mind, it is always a battle for him to sit through the show: and I owed one – we clinked the glasses, and I agreed to do it.  So here we go.

I carefully watched ASA Part II, bucket handy, but not required. It was, IMO the usual slap and tickle with a little grudge thrown in; but not a lot of venom. You get a sense that ‘venom’ is not required, the Senators seem to have a certain measured calm, a sureness that comes from having the answers to the questions. I reckon Nick likes baiting Halfwit, talking lots, posing questions then almost disregarding the answers. I’m no judge of these games, but seems to me the words of Senators Hart and Edwards still resound within that chamber. I reckon Halfwit needs to polish his resume.  Rather than draft comment, I have selected some short clips (hope I have) which tell me the story.

1) The bumptious, jumped up Halfwit as the world see him. Watch the facial expressions and body talk. Shows the man within to a tee (IMO).

2) Fiona Nash, hero, pot plant owner (and an iron bladder) says little during the Halfwit’s stumbling about trying not to spill the bed pans; but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I might even try to get this priceless moment printed as a still for the BRB play room. (Watch with the sound OFF, a second time). Priceless, solid gold.

3) Barry (Braces) O’Sullivan winds it up; to me it sounds like a dire warning. Halfwit, unable to stop bouncing about takes it as a challenge “Oh yeah, anywhere, anytime” sounds like fighting talk. I’d bet he couldn’t knock a sick kid off the pot in a real brawl.

FWIW, I’ve done my penance, paid my debt and it may be a long while before I can stomach another episode of ‘Halfwit, the Unbelievable’.

[Peetwo]

For my sins, I lost a bet to ‘the lad’; own fault, should have known better. Strolled into the workshop at about beer-o’clock (Tassie oak {recycled} shavings knee deep), nodded at the tap and received a two finger gesture, which I took to mean two off. After a short interval, the in use tool was put down, the glass picked up and with a wicked grin “cough up” says he. “What was it” says I – “two beers or a six pack?” “Nah” came the retort, “penance”. The old rule was to be played. “You managed to escape UP watch, but there are some things I can’t do which you can; you must watch the ASA video and get things moving.”

I know he can’t watch Halfwit without a bucket handy, even if in a sanguine frame of mind, it is always a battle for him to sit through the show: and I owed one – we clinked the glasses, and I agreed to do it.  So here we go.

I carefully watched ASA Part II, bucket handy, but not required. It was, IMO the usual slap and tickle with a little grudge thrown in; but not a lot of venom. You get a sense that ‘venom’ is not required, the Senators seem to have a certain measured calm, a sureness that comes from having the answers to the questions. I reckon Nick likes baiting Halfwit, talking lots, posing questions then almost disregarding the answers. I’m no judge of these games, but seems to me the words of Senators Hart and Edwards still resound within that chamber. I reckon Halfwit needs to polish his resume.  Rather than draft comment, I have selected some short clips (hope I have) which tell me the story.

1) The bumptious, jumped up Halfwit as the world see him. Watch the facial expressions and body talk. Shows the man within to a tee (IMO).

2) Fiona Nash, hero, pot plant owner (and an iron bladder) says little during the Halfwit’s stumbling about trying not to spill the bed pans; but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I might even try to get this priceless moment printed as a still for the BRB play room. (Watch with the sound OFF, a second time). Priceless, solid gold.

3) Barry (Braces) O’Sullivan winds it up; to me it sounds like a dire warning. Halfwit, unable to stop bouncing about takes it as a challenge “Oh yeah, anywhere, anytime” sounds like fighting talk. I’d bet he couldn’t knock a sick kid off the pot in a real brawl.

FWIW, I’ve done my penance, paid my debt and it may be a long while before I can stomach another episode of ‘Halfwit, the Unbelievable’.

Well done Ol'Tom your review of the Xenophon - (well) baited Harfwit self-flagellation session - is almost word perfect to how I would have (between retches.. ) written up the BRB report and you capture the moments on the Youtube video perfectly...

What I find quite amazing is that Harfwit is SO forthcoming when it comes to the Senate Estimates...  

I mean he tabled within minutes - at the NX bequest & encouragement - the following documents:

• Tabled Document No.1
  'Accelerate Program - Safety Approach', received from Mr Harfield, CEO, Airservices Australia, on 27 February 2017.
  

(PPDF 640KB)

• Tabled Document No.2
  'Airservices Executive Committee Meeting', received from Mr Harfield, CEO, Airservices Australia, on 27 February 2017.
  

(PDF 792KB)

• Tabled Document No.3
  '2016/17 Performance Agreement', received from Mr Harfield, CEO, Airservices Australia, on 27 February 2017.
  

(PDF 894KB)

   
Yet when it comes to the FOI Act it would appear he firmly plants his middle finger to both the Act and Airservices responsibility to the Act...

Description of Documents

07 June 2011 Flights conducted by private jets in 2010

10 June 2011 Radar Terrain Clearance Charts

21 September 2011 Radar information in relation to aircraft VH-CIV

24 October 2011 Flight plans for various aircraft

08 December 2011 Flight plans for various aircraft

19 December 2011 Flight plans for various aircraft

15 March 2012 Flight plans for various aircraft

18 June 2012 Documents in relation to UFO sightings

21 June 2012 Flight data over Kurnell NSW

20 July 2012 Environmental assessments carried out by Airservices in relation to flight paths over Fingal Head

13 August 2012 Documents in relation to ATC short break procedure

16 August 2012 Documents in relation to Manual of Air Traffic Services (MATS)

29 August 2012 Flight plans for various aircraft

12 September 2012 Documents in relation to radar and radio transmitter sites

30 November 2012 Documents in relation to the report into the review/audit the board carried out into the expenses of the former CEO of Airservices

5 December 2012 Flight plans for various aircraft

3 December 2013 Documents in relation to Air Traffic Control local instructions and training material used by Air Traffic Control.

23 December 2013 Details of the remuneration rates for all senior leadership team members (3rd level managers) in Airservices Australia, including their total remuneration and total.

9 January 2014 Documents in relation to Air Traffic Control local instructions.

11 March 2014 Correspondence from Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston of Airservices Australia to the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development – since 8 September 2013 to January 2014.

9 April 2014 Documents relating to the radar replay in relation to the “near miss” event between an aircraft and an “unknown object” over metropolitan Perth at 0913 WST on the 19th of March, 2014.

30 September 2014 Documents relating to any primary and secondary radar contacts over the town of, and regional area surrounding Armidale, New South Wales on the night of Sunday the 21st of September, 2014.

1 October 2014 Documents relating to consultation done regarding changes to Airservices work performance framework.

20 October 2014 Documents relating to noise monitoring around Busselton Regional Airport (BRA).

6 December 2014 Documents relating to Airservices tender number ASA RFT PRN4811 (ARFF modular fire station) Port Hedland WA.

9 February 2014 Documents relating to the contract and relationship between International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM) and Airservices Australia.  
2 July 2015 Transcript of audio between air traffic control and pilot in command.

14 July 2015 Documents relating to aircraft noise around Ashgrove QLD.

30 July 2015 Documents relating to Geelong Planning Permit PP879 2014 helicopter landing site (Victoria).  

25 August 2015 Primary radar data for Cairns International Airport for 18 August 2015.

28 August 2015 Primary radar data for Tullamarine Airport Melbourne for 23 August 2015

(P2 comment - Note date of last input to the ASA FOI disclosure log, this roughly corresponds to when Harfwit took over in the acting CEO role at ASA..  )

Now it could be that Harfwit has received NIL FOI requests since 28 August 2015?? Unfortunately for Harfwit we already know that the other Aunty's Sveen & Sturmer have already had a successful FOI request, that by (FOI Act) definition should already be fully disclosed? So where the duck is it??

Now it could also be the ASA FOI crew are part of match fit Harfwit's accelerate (cull) me program?? However IMO this would appear to be a direct conflict of interest with the ASA SMS and the ICAO approved Australian SSP. This is because, as everyone in the SMS world knows, the integrity and effectiveness of an SMS is dependent on the full and frank disclosure of all safety sensitive information or reports as per ICAO/CASA endorsed 'just culture' principles...  



MTF...P2      



 

[Kharon]

The lamentations of a Halfwit.

You know, P7 plays darts the same way; deceptively economical, lethally accurate and always with a purpose. Crafty bugger knew I’d take the bait and sit through the whole ASA one man show after reading his post. Well I did, there are a few comments which I could make but won’t. I reckon the messages delivered by Halfwit are self evident, his problem being that the bluster and rhetoric is being studiously ignored while the subliminal messages are being clearly ‘read’ on the ‘Bull-pooh’ meters of some very shrewd individuals, which tells a whole different story. One thing I will say though, if ever a woman the quality and calibre of Fiona Nash gave me a ‘long stare’ such as the one Halfwit got; I’d fold up my tent and quietly bugger off, any sensible man would. Not Halfwit though, he seems immune, lost in his own self image and believing the world perceives him as he sees himself.  

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

Burns - In English for the heathen:-

And would some Power give us the gift
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!

P2 has spotted the disconnections and raised the ante’ somewhat. “Passing strange” indeed is the sudden flurry of documentation being piled up for the Senators attention. An old wheeze which, in bygone days may have worked. Miles of paper to plough through, the wording deceptive, all designed to wear the reader down to a point of ennui or belief. The spin off being that once ‘accepted’ these documents can and will be used in defending the indefensible.  “Ah, but we covered that on page 3239, paragraph 22 (b) Senator” (smirk). Not a clever move with this Senate crew methinks, but, we shall see.

The really fascinating thing is what is not coming out of the ASA. Despite the volume of documents being tabled; why is there a strange lack of FOI requests being made. Unless the FoI requests are being denied; all of ‘em since 2015; about the time Halfwit took over. Perhaps its time Aunty Pru put in a FoI request asking for the amount of FoI application made since 2015 and why non seem to have been successful. Anyway, its on the BRB agenda, so we shall see.

#471 - If it quacks like a Duck.

P2 – “In an effort to track down the documents released under the ABC's FOI request, I made a visit to the ASA FOI Disclosure Log. Unfortunately if you refer to the FOI Disclosure Log webpage - see HERE - you will discover that the last entry was on the 28 August 2015 and in fact the last update (website administrative visit) was on 30 September 2015.”

That Sir, is an interesting little sidebar. I would like to know a little more, the ‘timing’ could be coincidental; but then again – given the ructions about then – you have to wonder.

So what’s happened to the FOI requests? Perhaps there simply have not been any FOI requests made during the period; unlikely, but possible. Perhaps due to a staff shortage there is no one to update the records – nah; Halfwit reckons he had 900 too many on the books; so that’s a non sequitur. Which leaves us with the notion that the FOI requests are being knocked back, therefore no update required.

The intensive, probing Estimates questioning before the Staib departure and the hiatus which followed, should, IMO have prompted a barrage of questions. There was a CEO up to her arse in alligators, some very awkward questions to which answers were being demanded; and, the Halfwit white ants as busy as hell. Shirley, some bright media spark, at very least, would be curious enough to go the FOI route. Maybe someone did and the requests were all knocked back – hence a clean disclosure log for what – 18 months. Well, you do have the right to remain silent rather than incriminate yourself. I wonder if it has come to the stage where a 'full dress' criminal investigation is the only answer to the ever deepening pit the ASA is digging; it would clear the air (so to speak).

The defences and barricades are being raised at the ASA top table; I doubt they are robust enough to withstand a full on assault. The current hot favourite on my tote is for ‘Whostoblame’ to quietly slide out of the rear exit and Halfwit to be transferred to the pencil sharpening department. The game, as Holmes would say, is afoot.  The 'tote' is open.

Toot toot.