[Sandy Reith]

Four years ago David Forsyth and his team came up with about 37 recommendations, government accepted all bar around three or four. Steve Hitchen asked me to write my opinion about the government’s response. I found that about half of the accepted recommendations were only accepted in principle.

Australian Flying published my opinion under my chosen heading “High Hopes or Soft Soaps.”
Has there been any discernible turn around, real improvements of substantive nature? No there has not because the government had no willpower to follow through and the whole exercise was a huge waste of time and money. Instead of seeing or finding the root cause of the disaster the Senate Committee embarks upon yet another time and money wasting inquiry which will only send more aviation participants into despair or resignation. More will simply give up and its a moot point if a new and younger cohort of aviation personnel will make up replacement numbers.

The only difference presently is the good motivation of the Senate Committee, it is not soft soaping but it is on a wrong course. It should be demanding immediate government action at Cabinet level. They have reams of material and scores of industry people to draw upon.