I repost my contribution of 17 May 2018. I even got the name right: GAAG. The Secretariat that actually runs GAAG will be chosen with great care.....
I am increasingly concerned by what I see is a headlong rush into a veritable Elephant trap set by the public service (the PS) for the associations. Everyone in the industry applauds the efforts being made and is trying to be constructive including me however there are risks in this summit process that need to be managed. In pilot speak, you need an alternate flight plan in case this whole thing turns out to be a waste of time otherwise you will be worse off than before because you will have been effectively neutered by the PS.
The chief risk you are facing is that of being co-opted by the Department - willingly accepting the offer by the PS to become part and parcel of industry change. When that happens, you become responsible to the industry for what happens next - which can be a very sad state of affairs for all of us.
The objective of co-opting is to make you become the Departments lap dog. I have done it myself and had it done to me. The entire PS and all the politicians know how to do it. Aany number of ravening wolves have gone to Canberra in search of 'change" and left as puppy dogs. We start the process with a dose of flattery. The Minister listens attentively. There are lunches, speeches, dinners, fine words and promises to you.
What happens next is that the Minister leaves, promising to stay in touch and admonishing the PS to listen to you. You are now face to face with the PS who will advise the Minister. At this point several things can happen, depending on the egos involved. The Department may suggest forming a small working group, lets call it "GA Australia" (GAA for short) to oversee a rewrite of the Act. They may suggest and offer to pay for consultants to sort through the issues and come up with "a range of options" for consideration, but remember they are the Departments consultants, not yours and the options they produce are theirs not yours. At the end of the day they produce a draft act that you have bought into because you are part of the consulting process weren't you?
So what happens next? You, meaning GA Australia or whatever the new peak body is called, get charged with selling the new product to its constituents and that most likely means selling and apologising for the s@#t sandwich that will be presented. When the industry howls that the new Act is worse than the last, the Department simply says; "talk to GA Australia, they helped write it and approved of it". GA Australia is now the Departments lap dog. Furthermore, the Department now doesn't have to listen to or engage with individual industry groups they simply say; "talk to GAA, they are your peak body now." The Department probably gives GAA a grant to set up a secretariat in Canberra and appoint a local CEO, effectively leaving the entire industry voiceless.
I have left out the descriptions of pandering to egos, dividing and ruling, axe grinding, bribing and pandering to associations that is part and parcel of this process. I've seen it done.
Then there is the question of motives. The Minister couldn't give a rats about the industry, all he cares about is votes. Albanese? Same same. CASA don't want change and this "summit' offers them a perfect opportunity to neuter GA for the next five years until either the industry revolts again under a new leader or dies of neglect.
You need plan B, which is to withhold approval or endorsement of anything and continue to try and build an organisation that is capable of affecting electoral outcomes, in other words building a 'nuclear option' because the threat of losing office is the only thing that always works on politicians and their minion
GENERAL AVIATION SUMMIT 2018 - 9th & 10th JULY 2018