[Peetwo]

The Iron Ring; the Minister or his (new) Mandarin? 

Reference (in particular the part in red bold):

Hmm...penny drop moment?? I just worked out why it was that Sterlo was asking these questions:

Question on notice no. 390

Senator Glenn Sterle: asked the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on 8 November
2019—

How many Flying Operations Inspectors are employed at CASA?
On average how many hours of flying currency training was completed by Flying
Operations Inspectors last year?
How many applications for flying currency training put forward by staff have been
rejected by CASA in the last year? On what grounds?
Are CASA meeting the ICAO requirements to maintain the skills and currency of
their staff to the same level held by industry?
How many Flying Operations Inspectors are 'not current' (ie training not up to date)
on the aircraft types they are required to oversight?


Question on notice no. 391

Senator Glenn Sterle: asked the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on 8 November
2019—

Is it correct that any engineering/maintenance organisation that wants to conduct any
maintenance on the aircraft conducting high capacity regular public passenger
services needs an approval issued by CASA under Civil Aviation Safety Regulation
(CASR) 145?
What are the steps involved in assessing and approving Part 145 approvals? Where
are these published?
What is the normal practice for reviewing Part 145 applications to conduct onsite
inspections of overseas operators and facilities who are seeking Part 145 approvals?
In the last 2 years, how many physical site inspections have been conducted as part of
145 approvals within Australia?
In the last 2 years, how many physical site inspections have been conducted as part of
145 approvals overseas?
What are the risks posed by organisations not being properly scrutinised in the Part
145 approval process?
Were CASA regulations followed in the assessment and approval of EFW's Part 145?


Question on notice no. 392

Senator Glenn Sterle: asked the Civil Aviation Safety Authority on 8 November
2019—

Does CASA agree that there are serious issues with workplace culture?
What steps is CASA taking to improve workplace culture?
How many vacant positions exist in the technical workforce?
What is the impact on industry and aviation safety of these positions being unfilled?
When does CASA plan on filling these vacancies?
CASA's corporate plan recognises that staff lacking skill or not having the capacity to
perform their role is a risk to aviation safety, why has CASA allowed so many
vacancies to remain in the technical workforce?

Hmm...I note that those questions still remain unanswered despite going past the due by date - 

I wonder if now would be a good time to mention that a decade ago we had very similar issues that was exacerbated by the findings of both an ICAO and FAA IASA audits that almost saw Australia bumped to Category II:

5. (C/NF) A downgrade to Category 2 would be the worst-case
scenario, which would entail measures such as
freezing Australia-U.S. flight operations to current levels
and terminating code-sharing arrangements, such as the one
between Qantas and American Airlines.  CASA officials are not
taking this possibility lightly and seem committed to
resolve the shortcomings in order to avoid a downgrade.

---

7 December 2009: FAA/ICAO brief on 'next steps' after poor results/findings in the ICAO USOAP 2008 & FAA Nov 30- Dec 4 2009 Australian audits. (ref links - #53 & WikiLeaks cable PDF: http://auntypru.com/wp-content/uploads/2...ileaks.pdf

Ref: Pel-Air: A coverup: a litany of lies? - Version III




Ref: https://auntypru.com/sbg-24-11-2019-thre...-fountain/

After some chasing up with the RRAT Committee Secretariat (thank you MH -  ) I was able to establish the following from Estimates Research Officer MH :

---

Hi P2,
 
Apologies, I should have clarified in the below email.
 
The answers I sent through yesterday are everything the secretariat has received from the Department of Infrastructure so far. All the ATSB and Airservices QoNs have been answered.
 
However, of the seven CASA QoNs, there are still three outstanding. These are:
 
Senator Sterle
How many Flying Operations Inspectors are employed at CASA?
On average how many hours of flying currency training was completed by Flying Operations Inspectors last year?
How many applications for flying currency training put forward by staff have been rejected by CASA in the last year? On what grounds?
Are CASA meeting the ICAO requirements to maintain the skills and currency of their staff to the same level held by industry?
How many Flying Operations Inspectors are 'not current' (ie training not up to date) on the aircraft types they are required to oversight?
 
Does CASA agree that there are serious issues with workplace culture?
What steps is CASA taking to improve workplace culture?
How many vacant positions exist in the technical workforce?
What is the impact on industry and aviation safety of these positions being unfilled?
When does CASA plan on filling these vacancies?
CASA's corporate plan recognises that staff lacking skill or not having the capacity to perform their role is a risk to aviation safety, why has CASA allowed so many vacancies to remain in the technical workforce?
 
Senator Rice
On what dates has CASA met with Uber Air to discuss their Melbourne proposal?
What stakeholder consultation has CASA undertaken with other stakeholders in relation to the Uber Air proposal?
o Which Victorian government agencies have been consulted in relation to the proposal?
o What is the proposed approval and consultation process?
What analysis has CASA undertaken of:
o Safety concerns?
o Environmental impacts?
o Noise issues?
o Visual impacts?
 
The IT department here is currently working on fixing the numbering issue and will hopefully have it fixed soon.
 
In the meantime, if the secretariat receives answers to the above questions I will let you know.
 
Best regards,

MH.

---

Okay so the sequencing issue has now been sorted and the two unanswered Sen Sterle (questions of interest) now appear as numbers #389 and #391; to which I have an assurance from MH that as soon as the Secretariat receives the answers he'll send me a copy (thank you once again MH -   ).

However this still doesn't address the issue of why those 2 Sen Sterle questions were not in the total package submitted by the Dept on the 6/12/19? The questions IMO seem fairly straight forward so what in hells, bells is the hold up; and who is responsible for the hold up?

This brings me to the next POI because apparently the new Mandarin of the Dept took charge only 3 days after the QoN would have been received.

Here is the Dept profile/bio of the new Mandarin (note the legal background):

Mr Simon Atkinson


Secretary Mr Simon Atkinson

Simon Atkinson was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development with effect with effect from 11 November 2019.

Mr Atkinson has extensive government and public policy experience.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Mr Atkinson served as Deputy Secretary, Fiscal Group at the Treasury.

Since joining the Australian Public Service as a graduate, he has held senior roles in many Australian Government portfolios, including Infrastructure and Regional, Finance, Defence, and Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Mr Atkinson has held leadership roles delivering major policy reforms, including the establishment of Infrastructure Australia in 2007, the 2009 Defence White Paper and 24 Commonwealth economic updates. Mr Atkinson also led the Budget and Fiscal element of the Regional Assistance Mission in the Solomon Islands in 2003-04.

Before joining the Australian Public Service, Mr Atkinson commenced his career with the Queensland Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Atkinson is an alumnus of the University of Queensland with bachelor degrees in Science and Law. He is a barrister and solicitor of the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of NSW. Mr Atkinson holds a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Essentially this means that ALL the QoN and their answers would have passed over the Mandarin's desk for approval to forward onto the RRAT Committee Secretariat. Which brings me full circle back to my original question who is responsible for the hold up and why the hold up? Also with an additional question; did that person/entity take advantage of the QoN numbering sequence issue because clearly the original Sen Sterle questions were submitted to the Dept and CASA as a total package?

These and other QoN? - MTF...P2