[Peetwo]

BM 4 Senate??

Ben Morgan with an OP piece, via Facebook:

---

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Australia

SIX MINISTERS IN SIX YEARS, CAN WE AFFORD MORE OF THE SAME?

AOPA Australia CEO, Benjamin Morgan, ponders on a lack of political leadership for Australian aviation.

During my six years with AOPA Australia we have seen a parade of Ministers responsible for aviation come and go, each arriving with great promise and expectation, only to leave without serving a full government term, to an industry more frustrated and damaged than what it was when they arrived.

Six Ministers have presided over our aviation industry in just six short years, each new to the job and largely unaware as to how aviation works, thrust into the responsibility of managing what is clearly one of the most complex industry sectors in the Australian economy.

Lead astray by the very bureaucracy that has been strangling our industry, and mislead into believing that all is well, each successive Minister has provided little to no leadership, no plan and critically no vision for advancing Australia’s aviation future. 

The status quo has reigned and whenever an industry group or individual has raised their concerns, the Minister of the time simply ignores them. 

Australia genuinely deserves much better.

The future of Australia’s aviation industry desperately needs a Minister with a clear focus on our long-term betterment, capable of driving a concise and inspirational agenda, if we are all to succeed. 

We need a Minister who is willing to stand-up for the hard-working men and women that comprise our aviation industry. 

Likewise, we need strong and determined members of Parliament, who will hold our Ministers to account, seeking to ensure that the rights of everyday Australian’s are protected, and that regulators and bureaucracy remain in check.

Without this, aviation cannot advance and is doomed to further decline.

Now more than ever, we need people in parliament who understand the issues we face, who understand how the system works.

Representatives who can clearly articulate the voice of our industry and who can use their time in parliament to advocate and champion for vital change.

The issues that we face in aviation are not exclusive, with millions of Australians all sharing similar experiences and challenges in a wide range of industry sectors.  We are living in a time where government bureaucracy, at all levels, is fast becoming out of control and where public servants are now wielding more power than our elected officials.

If we are to genuinely protect our freedom to fly, our access to airports, our aviation businesses and our future, we can no longer afford to vote for more of the same from the major political parties, who are letting us all down.

It's time for a paradigm shift - I fly and I vote.

Maybe at the next federal election, I should put myself forward as a Candidate Senator for New South Wales, with a clear agenda for aviation.

What are your thoughts?  Share your comments below, but please refrain from using abusive language and any personal attacks.

---

Some comments:

Ralph Holland

https://www.aph.gov.au/.../pubs/rp/rp1415/LobbyingRules

---

Tony Griggs

Might as well. Transport has become one of those ministries handed to seat warmers, the most recent McCormack who did bugger all. Wrote to him on a couple of occasions. Received wishy washy pathetic responses from one of his bureaucrats or minions. CASA is now a political animal. I’m not sure regional/rural aviation can be resurrected back to the old days quite frankly. Good luck if you do stand. It’s getting more politically correct & dangerous in this country to stand for Parliament. ABC will try to nail you if they suspect you aren’t a woke leftie…..just sayin…

---

Graeme De Morton

As far as running for a senate seat… put your energies into other strategies… amongst the public I believe empathy for aircraft owners is even less than that for Porsche drivers who have been pulled over by the police for speeding…

---

Graham Wilson

It is the Authority that is in charge not the Minister and Government

---

Hedley Harding

I was a candidate for a political party last federal election and take my advice forget running against another major party.. better to rally harder against these morons calling themselves ministers because all they ever do is tow the party line.

A TV campaign promoting AOPA and demoralising the minister works better

Mary Brown

Hedley Harding makes a very good point Benjamin Morgan. Bowing to party politics is what we witness all too often from our elected leaders, with very few strong enough to stand up to them!! I would be supportive of a whole of industry marketing campaign leading into the next election would raise awareness across all levels of politics....of course if you are passionate about joining politics....I say go for that also!!

---

Tam Camilleri

I’ve always said you have to BE the change you want to see in this world. If you want to make a difference and you are passionate enough and thick skinned enough I say go for it Ben. You would have my support.

---

Gary Gould

I would support your nomination for the senate to represent the best interests of the aviation community. However, I believe it will end in tears. The political system in Australia is so entrenched and inbred that change is almost impossible. Probably a bad example, but look at Pauline Hanson. Like or dislike, she became a threat to The Establishment and that group of people did everything they could to silence her. Nick Zenophon is another example of a man who tried for change. Then gave up in frustration. The Liberal and Labor parties are like the drug cartels of Mexico. Almost impossible to change. Absolutely impossible to get rid of. Good Luck Mr Morgan, you will need it.

---

Bruce McLachlan

You would kill it Ben. Not just aviation, we need more practical common sense at the top. Go for it.

---

Rod Tyson

Have a look at all these Ministers. What actual qualifications do they have. All of them dont have any qualifications in the fields they represent. How do you get a job in Aviation with no qualifications?

---

Michael Wood

Never going to change till we get one with a spine to tell the public servants in CASA that the Minister runs the show not them....

---

Ric Wilson

GA airport safety and security has been compromised in these COVID 19 times. These property people are risking life and limb by refusing to take phone calls, answer emails and letters appertaining to important operational matters. Surely there is a higher authority that can address these issues and take action to remove such stakeholders for various breaches. If we could apply the Nuremberg Code or similar these leaders would face the death penalty for what they have been doing since privatisation of airports began. At some airports if you look at security alone there are at least 15 breaches of the original code brought in after 9/11. In this day and age of a higher threat levels those loop holes need to be closed and aircraft and operators given full protection from any threat. Over charging and bulldozing hangars and associated eviction orders are being done in lock down times with no way of defending and no compensation given or offered. What sort of a country have we got when we allow foreign invader corporations to have more power over life and death than our governments? I rest my case until a class action perhaps???

MTF...P2