[thorn bird]

K's quote:
"We seem to have both; lots of. The parasitic type outnumbering those in boxes. The CASA operation as it stands is sucking the financial life blood from the economy and industry, it costs a significant amount of money to provide the ticked boxes; many of those boxes are only ticked with pencil and not initialled…

A further impost – for no return has been the amount of ‘additional’ money government have thrown at inquiry and review. Difficult to cost but if we go back to the beginning of the ‘regulatory reform’ process; there has been a staggering amount of money spent on the endless merry-go-round. Which would be ‘acceptable’ had the investment born fruit. The simple fact is that it has not.

Despite the rhetoric and ‘feel-good’ waffle from Chester; more time and more money is being allocated to keep the treadmill operational. Why? We know the problems, we have solutions to those problems; so why is Chester hell bent on this farcical ‘review’ process."

I agree with your sentiments K, its all so terribly depressing. One could understand the why if there seemed some logical reason for the wherefores, also if some tangible outcome was apparent, yet there's not a single shred of evidence that Australia for all the tens of thousands of pages of improbable criminal code regulation has produced any better safety outcomes than anywhere else in the world.

How often do we hear the "safety" mantra? its chant echo's across the past 50 years I have been involved in this industry, the almost Zen like drone one hears from a Buddhist temple or the cloisters of a monastery.

Australia's "enviable safety record" so often quoted by the "establishment" is a myth. Statistically we are no safer than anyone else in the so called first world, for all our mountains of paperwork, Australia is just lucky.  That luck will run out one day, Gobbles TICK TOCK is so poignant and somehow chilling.

The only tangible result of Australia's DYI regulation is the slow decline of a once vibrant industry. That decline is so patently obvious it beggars belief that the "Establishment" is, on current form, completely oblivious to it, completely ignoring what is right in front of their eyes and persisting with yet another enquiry. What was Einstein's definition of insanity?

How can the political elite completely ignore the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars expended on a complete and utter failure?

How can the political elite stand by when rapacious McBank's of this world rape and pillage the Australian public at our primary Airports, a monopoly with no controls or oversight placed upon them to be fair to the users of those monopolies. Is 75 cents profit for every dollar spent in the car parks fair?, tell me any business who would not salivate on a 75% mark up for their product, with the added benefit of never having to pay tax on profits.

How can the political elite allow the intent of leases, acts of parliament and safety be subverted for the short term benefit of development sharks at secondary airports, the "Safety" imperative being completely ignored is criminal.

If the intent of Australia's DYI regulation is safety, which it patently has had very little to do with, what the hell is the point? CAsA, like a parasite is destroying its host, why?

Meanwhile across the ditch:
The weekend Australian

"Sky's the limit despite Rocket Lab mission's launch setback"

Rocket Lab, an American and NZ Company stuck a home made rocket 200 Km up, 100 km is generally considered outside the atmosphere.

The company was able to design, build and launch its rocket in roughly four years, with a lot of the structures required made in NZ. The company is in the gun to launch satellites weighing hundreds of kilograms for several million dollars, versus 10 or 20 times that for conventional launches.

Four years from design to launch!!! Why not Australia?

We've heard heaps of talk of an Australian space program in the past, but we have never even got close to launching anything?

Four years!! from start to launch!!! In Australia you'd still be on your fourth rewrite of your Operations Manual, half way through your occupational health and safety manual, not even started your environmental impact statement, and CAsA would be lobbying the government for more funds to employ a few hundred more staff to cope with the approvals.

The Kiwi's aligned their regulations with the US, took them around four years and cost around $5 million. Their regs are considered some of the best in the world, adopted by most countries in our region. Their aviation industry has grown to become the third biggest contributor to their GDP.

Australia has taken almost thirty years, expended $400 million to half finish its DYI regulations, which the whole world shakes its head at.

"The lucky country"?? think our luck is about to run out and Gobbles prophecy become reality.