#SBG 19/09/21: Common sense and the shortage thereof.

Ref: Vic Coroners Essendon DFO crash inquest begins & AMROBA supplementary submission (plus attachments) finally published??

Common sense and the shortage thereof.–  AuntyPru forum version.

I digress – but! – T’uther day I saw an awful accident – lady with a toddler in a stroller ambling along in the sunshine. ‘Bang’ – a large fellah on a push bike doing about 10 knots cleaned ’em both up. Lady went for a short fly; toddler hit the deck with a whallop!. Bloke on the bike bounced once before ending up in the gutter of a very busy inner city main road. A mess. Later, nursing an Ale, the event got me to thinking about ‘safety’. I wondered just how much ‘enforced’ safety has stopped the use of common sense, ‘aware’ thinking. ‘Safety’ is a whole, multi million dollar industry now. So used is the populace to blindly following their dictates has it become, that the need for personal ‘risk assessment’ has almost disappeared? Take that chump on the push bike; he had his silly little crash hat on; hi-viz gear, glasses etc (not mention the Lycra) tooling along a busy footpath. WTD was he thinking? Must we now bring in a rule set to forbid faster than walking speed for bikes on foot paths? Must we promulgate rules for Mum’s pushing strollers with flashing lights lights, seat belts for the kid;Mum and kid crash hats: engineered roll proof strollers? Or; could we just make people more risk aware and let them think it out for themselves? Seriously – this whole OHS thing is out of control – when I was a child, I was taught to cross the road ‘Look Right – Look left – look right again; and, if its safe to cross, do so. At seven y.o,  made risk aware, educated and independent. Now, the whole bloody world must slow down to 40 because kids can’t be taught to use crossings: – it’s a bollocks; costs a fortune and deprives youngsters of not only risk awareness but independent thinking. They grow into fools who think its OK to blast along a fo-otpath – sure of their own safety, but unprepared to be totally aware of the risks to everyone else. ‘We’ have lost something vital in the cotton wool of administrative, financial liability reduced ‘safety’. The fool’s injuries where not that serious; the child’s were. However, I thanked the friendly Bobby who prevented me from making the idiots injuries more serious than they were. There; better now with that off my chest.

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“You cannot have the right to do what is wrong.” ― Abraham Lincoln

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Matters aeronautical remain in a state of flux – everyone wondering what the result of the illegal SoE gaff will be. Toss a coin; or, take a flutter on my tote board; same odds; but not for the feint hearted. If one discounts the serious ‘lobby groups’ and the mealy mouthed appeals writ, in the first person, by discredited, discarded ex ministerial advisers; one is left with a rag-tag bunch of a disenfranchised; almost excommunicated business groups; all, desperately trying to survive against increasing odds against. Even those with ‘clout’ and a modicum of influence are trying to fathom the bizarre rules emanating from a mad regulator. Take the latest part 91 and it’s 300 page explanation and make some sense of that – just try it. Then, try to apply it to an operation. The problems almost insurmountable – as they stand – potentially without remedy.

And yet the solution is – Oh so very, very simple. B Joyce Esq has a pen – he has a binding document on his desk; to wit, the Ministerial Statement of Expectation – (SoE). Within his remit, he may ‘instruct’ (order if you will) CASA to immediately adopt the NZ rule set. Within 18 months Australia would be become acceptable to overseas agencies, trade agreement and trading could begin and the aviation industry could put it’s foot down on the accelerator and drive us out of the doldrums – even with the cursed virus hanging about. Save this nation a fortune, increase the nations revenue, provide jobs, investment and hope. Just do it Barnaby – it is the simple solution to a world of self induced morbidity. The CASA experiment is a proven failure. The existing rule set a mad man’s delusion; operationally demented, legally undemocratic, constitutionally flawed and an abomination on human rights as we know them; not fitting for any purpose except unlimited control and unconstrained power (at an increased cost every year). But then; I’m just reiterating my own and the industry’s 30 year old prayer for sanity and common sense to prevail.

Which brings me to an end of this ramble. I cannot believe how any ‘minister’ charged with the welfare of this nation can sit back, have tea and jam biscuits while watching an industry being destroyed – from the inside out; by the very people responsible for it’s well being. There is a conga line of ministers, stretching back decades, who have allowed the aberration CASA has become to not only prosper, but become beyond the reach of even a Senate committee and hundreds of documented complaints – all starring not only the same cast; but script and Eastern Bloc philosophy. All brought to a democracy – shamefully fully supported, over decades,  by a a Bipartinsane parliament. Disgraceful. Is Joyce ‘man enough’ or angry enough to deal with it – once and for all? Fair question – Well we shall see, won’t we children.

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“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Mark you, I had my own small flirt with sanity this week. TOM calls – :”doing anything that can’t wait?” Now, I’ve been caught before – cautiously – I ask “why?” “Just need a hand for a day or two” say’s he. Mug that I am “OK” say’s I, “what we doing?” “Deck” say’s he; “see ya 0630 o’clock” – Click. Now then, the early aircraft carriers may have had marginally larger decks than the one which confronted me early the next day not only was it a monster but we needed to start from scratch – i.e. weeds, dirt and dog pooh. Holes to dig, concrete to mix; stirrups to fit; stumps to cut and make, bearers to cut and fix; joists to fit (level and square) 6 meter lengths of decking – all the fun of the fair. The Gazette is late: I know; but a honest ‘day of rest’ was much needed. Did you ever notice how deaf dogs get when you mention ‘tape measure’? They seem to find pencils easily enough – but lost tape measures seem to be a ‘deck too far’. No matter; Ale, shower, Shepard’s pie, shower and my favourite chair seem to have worked their magic. Aye well; the land of Nod patiently awaits and I do have a righteous claim to visit.

Selah.-.