[Peetwo]

P9 - That’s the dark horse ain’t it though.  Boyd & Co have a mile of politics to beat down, a serious case of not so passive resistance to overcome, all that before they can even get positioned to confront the recalcitrant ego’s and the DoIT counteroffensive. 

Murmurings, MEMOs & post offensives..

I agree with Sandy to some extent, JB & the Board to date seem to be largely MIA the last bit of Media exposure was back on December 7 2015: see Boyd the believable &..

..Boyd said the Part 61 regulations were written up without adequate communication from industry and he lobbied against their introduction before he joined the CASA board.

“I was very much involved in it not being brought out when I was on the industry side,” Boyd said.

“We knew Part 61 was never going to work. It got put in a drawer for 12 months and instead of being reworked and rejigged unfortunately the very last day that our previous CEO was in the organisation he promulgated Part 61 as it was 12 months previously.

“The results have been horrendous for the organisation and for industry. It’s a debacle.”...

In November, CASA also unveiled a corporate restructure that sought to improve service delivery and operational efficiency. Boyd said the new-look organisation would reduce the number of executive managers from 10 to five and save $5.2 million in management salaries.

“I think we are well on our way to a new, invigorated organisation,” Boyd said.

“I want to see a combination of injection of some new blood into the the organisation, new skill, but I also want to see the people that are keen and want to stay there and want to achieve, I want to see them flourish.”

...While Australia’s peak aviation groups have previously expressed concern with the slow pace of change at CASA, Boyd said everyone at the organisation was moving as quickly as possible to complete the reforms necessary to better serve the aviation community.

“I know we are copping flack at the moment because we are not implementing things fast enough in this ASRR report,” Boyd said.

“No one more than me would like to see things happen quicker than it is but it is happening.”

“We are working our way through. The ASRR report is my road map of how we are going to make CASA a better organisation.”...

 
Going off Skidmore's track record so far, the quote that Sandy highlights is disconcerting if you consider the Ferryman words...

" ..Clearly Skidmore has been captured – if he was ever loose – and there’s serious money bet on him always being ‘the chosen one’; the track record to date fully supporting that investment.."

However, like Ken Cannane & "K", I also believe that we need to continue to have faith Boyd and the Board are beginning to gain traction, in the fierce & bullshit internal wars with a recalcitrant but firmly embedded (25+ years) toxic bureaucracy (Iron Ring) that is in self-survival mode.

Governance of CASA & Accountability

Referring to Sec 52-53 Part VII of CAA 1988:

52  Membership

             (1)  The Board consists of:
                     (a)  the Director; and
                     (b)  up to 6 Board members (including the Chair and Deputy Chair).
Note:          As a member of the governing body, the Director is a member of the accountable authority of a Commonwealth entity for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013: see the definition of accountable authority in section 12 of that Act.

             (2)  The performance of a function or the exercise of a power of the Board is not affected by a vacancy in the membership of the Board.


53  Functions
             (1)  The functions of the Board are to:
                     (a)  decide the objectives, strategies and policies to be followed by CASA; and
                     (b)  ensure that CASA performs its functions in a proper, efficient and effective manner; and
                     ©  ensure that CASA complies with directions given by the Minister under section 12B.
             (2)  The Board has the power to do all things necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection with the performance of its functions.
             (3)  All acts and things done in the name of, or on behalf of, CASA by the Board are taken to have been done by CASA.

From that, as in private corporations, the primary purpose of the Board is the Governance of the entity i.e. CASA. IMO a major flaw with the CASA Board is having the DAS sit on the Board and have full voting rights on the Board. 

Under Hawke, in the McComic years, ironically this was never a problem because Hawke automatically deferred to McComic: i.e. rubberstamped any of the previous DAS policies & directives. In a sense McComic had a free reign to rule CASA as he saw fit, without any effective governance or oversight from the Board. 

Now we have a situation where the make-up of the Board with considerably more expertise in Aviation matters, means we have a Board that naturally wants to be more involved in the decision making process of CASA and have taken on the responsibility of overseeing the full implementation of the ASRR. Simply put the implementation of the ASRR, through Ministerial Direction, is effectively now a function of the Board.

So although the 'captured' DAS is a Board Member & can theoretically influence (conflict of interest) all other Members and the way they vote, he is also beholden to section 60 of the Act (CAA 1988) which gives the power to the Minister to terminate Board Members when certain conditions are breached. In particular I refer to sub-paragraphs (3) & (4):

  (3)  If the Minister is of the opinion that the performance of Board members or the performance of CASA has been unsatisfactory for a significant period of time, the Minister may terminate the appointment of all Board members or particular Board members.


             (4)  If the Minister is of the opinion that:
                     (a)  CASA has failed to comply with section 12B; or
                     (b)  the Board members have failed to comply with section 19 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013;
the Minister may terminate the appointment of all Board members or particular Board members.

{Reference PGPAA 2013: 19  Duty to keep responsible Minister and Finance Minister informed}

 
And if the Miniscule does not have the stomach for firing the DAS, under the PGPA Act he can now defer to the original 'appointer' (i.e. The Board): 

30  Termination of appointment for contravening general duties of officials

             (1)  A person (the appointer) may terminate the appointment of another person (the appointee) in relation to a corporate Commonwealth entity if:
                     (a)  the appointer holds the position that is responsible for appointing the appointee; and
                     (b)  the appointee is, or is a member of, the accountable authority of the entity; and
                     ©  the appointee contravenes Subdivision A in relation to the entity; and
                     (d)  the termination is in accordance with any requirements prescribed by the rules.
             (2)  The appointer terminates the appointment by giving the appointee a written notice signed by the appointer.
             (3)  The notice must include a statement of reasons for the termination.
             (4)  The appointer must cause a copy of the notice to be tabled before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day the appointer gives the notice to the appointee.
             (5)  Without limiting paragraph (1)(d), the rules may prescribe positions in relation to which appointments must not be terminated under this section.
             (6)  This section applies despite any provision in any enabling legislation for a corporate Commonwealth entity that provides for the termination of the appointment of a person in relation to the entity, but does not limit any such provision.

 
So if, for example, in the this Sandy quote.. 

"I have begun the process of renewing CASA through a major change program which will deliver more effective safety regulation and better regulatory services for all sectors of the Australian aviation community".


The Board of CASA has not communicated to the aviation community that it is in control of CASA.

From this one could be forgiven for deducing that Mr. Skidmore acts alone, not needing approval from anyone.

..it is proven that Skidmore has exceeded his authority; or without the knowledge; or approval of the Board (& by default the Miniscule), under the amended provisions of the CA Act & in reference to the PGPA, the Miniscule has the power to terminate Skidmore - just saying..

P9 - ..how much stamina and how determined the board is to bring in real change, starting with a decent deputy (a battle royal not yet lost) and a new DAS...  

About the Deputy position, it would seem that with the CASA corporate restructure that the Deputy Dog & the Associate Director position has been made redundant. So does this mean the deputy position will now default to the newly created (yet to be filled) Aviation Group Manager:

 

Aviation Group Manager

• Executive Leadership Role
  
• Attractive Senior Management Package
  
• Located in Canberra
  

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) was established on 6 July 1995 as an independent Commonwealth statutory authority.  CASA's primary function is to regulate the safety of civil air operations in Australia and the operation of Australian aircraft overseas.  CASA also has a range of other functions which assist in fostering a safety driven culture within the aviation community in Australia.
 
Following an organisational restructure, CASA has established three new Executive positions working directly to the CEO/Director of Aviation Safety to oversee significant cultural and work program changes. With the CEO/DAS, these three new roles make up a new Executive Team.  One of these roles is the Aviation Group Manager.
 
The Aviation Group Manager interacts directly with the aviation community providing front line services in maintaining aviation safety through entry control and surveillance, setting standards, regulatory development and implementation and airspace management. 
 
Qualities required of the successful applicant are:
 

• Extensive senior manager experience, including successfully leading organisation wide change processes.
  
• Sound understanding of the contemporary aviation industry environment. 
  
• Politically astute with the ability to engage credibly with high level representatives from industry, government and the wider aviation community. 
  

 
Contact Officer:  Mark Rilatt
 
Ref. No: Aviation Group Manager
 
If you would like to know more about this position, please e-mail mark.rilatt@casa.gov.au to obtain an information pack. The pack contains further details on CASA and the context for this role, along with information on the selection process and employment as a senior manager in CASA.
 
Closing Date for Applications: 31 January 2016
 

 
That's got to be a cool million dollar saving (at least) right there..


MTF..P2  

Ps Perhaps it would have been more prudent for Skidmore to have said:

"..On behalf of the Board and under the direction of the Minister..I have begun the process of renewing CASA.. "