[Peetwo]

A self-indulging Minister; self-serving bureaucrats and LMS in the real world -

Ben Morgan from off the AOPA thread:

Dear PM..

...As an Australian and as an aviation business owner I have become disillusioned (as have thousands of others in our industry) by the quagmire of unnecessary bureaucracy and regulation that is suffocating our general aviation industry - sending it bankrupt.  Worse still, I have become disillusioned by the lack of any serious political leadership by the Liberal Party of Australia on the issues which are affecting us so greatly.

This position was highlighted by the inability of Mr Joyce or Mr Chester to provide any meaningful position or perspectives to the attendees of the aviation rally.  They both simply resigned themselves to public statements of having no idea about aviation and deferred the industry to deal with bureaucrats, whom have no motivation to see broad change occur.

Our industry is governed by a department and a regulator which are vastly disconnected to the realities and the challenges that face the hard working men and women in aviation across this country.  They have made entering and setting up aviation businesses cost prohibitive and have devalued investment within our industry, guiding the general aviation industry into serious and perilous decline.

Our industry requires a strong and clear political intervention to end this bureaucratic nightmare.

Unless a diverse and broad platform of regulatory reform is undertaken by the government, the general aviation industry across Australia will continue to decline and will collapse into bankruptcy.

I am calling on you Mr Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia to stand by the men and women of general aviation and to save our industry from the bureaucrats and show strong political leadership on this issue.

If you honestly believe that this is the greatest time to be an Australian, then stand with us and transform our industry into an economic powerhouse by broadly reforming our antiquated and dysfunctional regulatory framework.  Our industry's leadership are unified and are at the ready to help you and the Liberal Party of Australia define the necessary policies to help rescue and empower our industry for growth and prosperity.

Core values our industry stands by:

- Only regulate when necessary and do so proportionately
- Deregulate everywhere we can and reduce cost to industry
- Help create a vibrant and dynamic general aviation industry...

And from the Mandarins & Minions thread:

RTR (red tape reduction): The forgotten Coalition government policy- why? 

Forwarded to me from cranky... : The $176 billion tax on our prosperity &..

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart says Australian politicians don't "have the guts" to tackle government spending.

Ms Rinehart said the cost of government was growing rapidly and this issue has been overlooked in the election campaign.

"There is one giant cost slab that isn't decreasing: government," Ms Rinehart told the Saturday Telegraph.

Ms Rinehart also took aim at the level of government red tape which needs to be overcome for developments.

She says her $10 billion iron ore project at Roy Hill has been slowed down by the around 400 government approvals needed.

"India has the guts to do what it's doing to cut at least federal red tape, with the consequent immense benefits to its people, driving INVESTMENT, jobs, economic growth and living standards - why can't Australia?" she said.

The blurb from the Saturday Telegraph also headed up an excellent coal face post off the UP by Lima Mike Sierra...

Hey Ben, wow, it is great to see you active and back with us. We sent an email to our local Federal MP this morning - Melissa Price, and I promise you that this is not the first.

To Melissa's credit, she did sit down with us in Derby, some 2 odd years ago as a total rookie, regarding our concerns after the CASA v Caper case (Direct Air) and the lack of any evidence of Part 135 ever being rolled out but, we have had absolutely no positive follow up from Melissa regarding that, or subsequent correspondence. The email:

The following statement was in the Newspaper yesterday. Gina has it so right. This is what GA in Australia is coming up against too.

...Mining magnate Gina Rinehart says Australian politicians don't "have the guts" to tackle government spending...


...WE AREN’T LOOKING FOR FUNDING OF ANY KIND!!! All we need is the Bureaucratic overkill taken away so we can operate a safe, small business.

We are a small operation. We can’t afford to employ 2 more staff to cater to the paperwork that CASA is thrusting upon us at every turn. The extra cost of complying with their demands is out of control.

The most recent changes are:

1. Pilots will not be allowed to camp out overnight while on a job under the new fatigue management guidelines. We have held a contract with DPaW for 8 years doing aerial ignition, primarily in the Kimberley but across all of WA, and as you can image there aren’t a lot of air-conditioned rooms at Silent Grove Camp Ground, Mitchell Plateau, or Illkurlka. Our Pilots absolutely love the work and very seriously compete for these jobs; it is a paid holiday. There is no risk of them becoming fatigued because their accommodation isn’t “climate controlled”. CASA Bureaucrats that work in a high rise office in Canberra have no idea what happens in the real world because they want nothing less than 4-star accommodation. Get them to back off – that’s all we are asking.

2. In the future only 9 passenger seats can be available on GA Aircraft. This won’t affect us, but the Operators of Caravans, and similar sized aircraft, that can currently carry up to 14 passengers will no longer be able to run a viable operation. This includes the Seaplanes that fly out of Broome and Derby during the tourism season. The reason for limiting the passenger numbers is unknown to all but the Bureaucrats.

3. In 2013 we told you about being unable to sell individual seats on a scenic flight because that is considered, by CASA, to be an RPT operation and we are all ignoring this rule and flying illegally when conducting most scenic flights. If Mary and Fred call and book 2 seats on a scenic flight and then Harry and Hilda do the same thing, we are legally considered to be doing RPT (Regular Public Transport), which we are not permitted to do. If the Visitor’s Centre rings and books 4 passengers as a single group on a scenic flight, then that is OK, because it is one booking and is not considered an RPT flight. As Pauline would say “Please Explain”?

This is the kind of brick wall we are up against. CASA are making up new rules and regulations just because they have the power, unlimited funds and unlimited control to do so. The Minister and the CASA Board, that most would imagine “control” CASA can only advise the DOA. That scenario is unbelievable but, the Keating Government set it up so that no Minister could ever be responsible if Qantas killed 300 people and no politician since has had the balls to change it, including yourself and the current Government.

There is a very real alternative available to us; that is to get Air Operators Certificates in New Zealand, or another State with free trade agreements with Australia, and create true havoc in bureaucratic circles, but at least we would have a set of rules that we can understand, comply with and retain sanity.

We thank you for not responding to our previous correspondence because it totally justifies our feelings towards you.

Regards

Well said that man nailed it in one...  


MTF...P2