[Gobbledock]

Aussie500, to assist you with some background information on Australia’s parlous aviation system, below are some small snippets on how we have gotten to the level where we are today. Although as a Mariner, you too would have seen great levels of Government incompetence including the billion dollar Collins class submarine lemons? As follows:

1. The aviation regulatory reform program. This commenced in 1988, yep 27 years ago and has so far cost between $270 000 000 to $300 000 000. And guess what, this lemon of a task isn’t yet completed!!! (for an example of how it is done properly please research how NZ did it)

2. The ICAO audit of CAsA in 2009. It was a damning report which basically aligned us with third world countries when it came to safety. Things aren’t much better today. The FAA were equally concerned and considered downgrading our safety rating which would have pegged us on equal with third world nations, and cost the Australian economy dearly. A casual reading link below:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/05/12/icao...rld-skies/

3. The TSBC peer review of that ‘Hubris of aviation’, Beaker, and his merry band of ATSB incompetents. Although the report was for political reasons worded politically nicely, it too found Australia totally deficient in its so-called investigation of the Pel-air accident/ditching. Sadly our ATSB was a world leader, up there with the TSBC and the NTSB, but that fell apart the day that an agriculture accountant took over the wheel. Today, well, a complete joke. (If only Alan Stray could have stayed). A casual reading link below:

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/...-failings/

4. ASRR undertaken by David Forsythe. A review of Australia’s oversight capability in general. And yep, you guessed it, not a pretty picture. Another damning indictment of how Australia is on par with third world countries. A casual reading link below:

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/...her=mobile

And the nauseating attempted cover-up;

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/...her=mobile

5. One can add to the list other Australian stuff ups such as:

- Not planning mitigation to relieve Sydney of its aviation congestion issues (successive Governments have done nothing but make the Consultants rich ‘talking’ about Badgerys)
- Failed road infrastructure planning in capital cities
- Failure to take mining taxes from those flogging our mineral assets
- Failure to tax SACL
- Failure to fix our water infrastructure including the much needed Murray River
- Failure to make the Bruce Highway into an actual highway. It is a goat track
- Failure to adequately protect our greatest national ecological treasure - The Great Barrier Reef
- Not to mention the various UN departments who have expressed concern over Australia’s treatment of refugees (UN sec-general), protection of environment (UNESCO) and aviation safety (ICAO). Yep, our politicians are doing a wonderful job screwing up our country!

“Third world Australian standards for all”