[Peetwo]

Dear Chester...L&Ks Sandy -   

Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandy.reith.31

..If it wasn’t obvious years ago CASA is simply a make work salary factory. Keep changing the rules and almost without exception make life more difficult and expensive for General Aviation.

In this case the airport is open for Visual Flight Rules arrivals but not Instrument Flight Rules. CASA claims that exemptions are available but the Council didn’t apply.

Here’s a couple of questions:-


Why didn’t CASA specifically offer the Council a solution? No, it expects everyone to spend hours wading through all its latest thought bubbles that are found in volumes of legalese, handily rubber stamped by Parliament.
Why didn’t Darren Chester see the instruments being put to Parliament and question the results of impending changes?

Labor Minister Gareth Evans got rid of aviation out of his Ministry in 1988 by creating the monopoly Government Business Enterprise CASA. An independent corporation with a mandate to put ‘safety’ above all consideration including commonsense.

This abrogation of Ministerial responsibility, flying in the face of the Westminster principle of responsible government, is the reason we saddled with an out of control regulator. CASA has two thirds destroyed GA and weakened us as a Nation.

We were led to believe that new CEO Ms. Pip Spence was brought in from the Transport and Infrastructure Department to make reforms.

According to CASA annual report she commenced 17 May last year and by 30 June ‘21 (c. six weeks later) was paid $253,089. Extrapolate that to a per annum salary, certainly a huge and unexplained jump compared to the previous incumbent.

So far Ms. Spence has accomplished only one reform of note, i. e. removing the Cessna Special Inspections requirements from private aircraft, meanwhile CASA continues to relentlessly grind down GA with its unworkable rules that Parliament inappropriately migrated ( at CASA’s behest) into the criminal code with strict liability for ease of prosecution.

We’ve lost hundreds of flying schools, charter operators and maintenance businesses.

The only way out, and a great opportunity to grow GA, is for Parliament to put aviation back into a Department of Government with responsible Minister at head.

A Private Members Bill Mr. Chester?  Do something for pity’s sake.

MTF...P2