21st February 2020
The Hon. Mr Michael Mc Cormack.
Deputy Prime Minister.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Development.
Dear Deputy Prime Minister,
The purpose of this letter is to call on you, in your role, to remove Mr Anthony Mathews from his current position as the Chairperson of the Board of CASA.
I make this formal request based on misconduct, failure to meet his obligations, and misfeasance in public office.
Mr Anthony Mathews was appointed to the Board of CASA as the Chairperson in August 2018 by you, in your role as the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.
The CASA website states that
‘The Board is responsible for deciding the objectives, strategies and policies to be followed by CASA and for ensuring CASA performs its functions in a proper, efficient, and effective manner”.
Whilst I will raise specific allegations in this correspondence, there can be no doubt that the General Aviation (GA) sector across Australia, is firmly of the opinion that CASA has failed to perform its functions
in a proper, efficient or effective manner.
His position is untenable. The impact on aviation safety and the future of a sustainable GA industry is being unacceptably compromised by him continuing in that role. He is facilitating a dangerous culture within CASA that is clear breach of CASAs own regulatory philiosophy and other obligations placed on him in his role.
Mr Mathews has consistently and repeatedly overseen clear breaches of:
· The Ministers Statement of Expectations
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00977
· The Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013A00123
· CASAs Regulatory Philosophy
https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/who...ory-philosophy
· The values of the Australian Public Service.
https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-values-1
· Commitments given to the Australian public by the Prime Minister in his address to the Institute of Public Administration at Parliament House on 19th August 2019
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/speech-i...administration
· The functions of CASA stated in section 9 of the Civil Aviation Act
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C01097
· Unlawful conduct by a small group of personnel within CASA.
Whilst CASA as an organisation is predominantly made up of a highly professional team focussed on achieving optimal safety outcomes, that good work is compromised by a small group of decision makers in the organisation that choose to act unethically and unlawfully.
These matters have been bought to the attention of Mr Mathews and he has chosen not to act and has therefore failed to meet the obligations that are placed on him, in his position as the Chair of the CASA Board.
I have attached correspondence with him over the last 12 months. In January 2019 I raised significant allegations about a number of individuals working within CASA. Those allegations were completely ignored, and not responded to.
By choosing not to respond to those allegations, he failed in his role as the Chair of the CASA Board. His conduct is indicative of a cover up rather than any good intent.
Correspondence (attached) was sent to him on 02/01/19, 02/04/19, 22/05/19, 28/05/19. 05/06/19. 06/06/19, 11/06/19 and 16/06/19. Please note that I included your office on the correspondence sent on 16/06/19.
For a period of 6 months he completely ignored that correspondence and chose not to consider the substantive allegations. As a result of him choosing not to respond, a number of businesses were forced into closure, significant investment was lost, and peoples livelihoods were impacted. This situation could have been avoided had he chosen to act with ethics and in a well-intentioned and timely manner.
My allegations of unlawful conduct are not vindictive or vexatious, and I expect to be held fully accountable for anything that I state. We have seen an undesirable trend in Australia over recent years away from accountability and responsibility, and most particularly at Board level. The conduct of these personnel who I will name, has personally cost me many millions of dollars and impacted significantly on my family’s welfare, and a number of other businesses predominantly in rural areas.
I make myself fully available to meet with you or your nominee, to present my evidence, prior to me making a submission to the current Senate Inquiry into General Aviation, if you will provide me with that opportunity.
I appreciate that you will be obligated to approach Mr Mathews on these matters and ask that you ask him to identify the basis for the action that CASA took against me, and if there is any supporting safety case, or were there any regulatory breaches. If he chooses to answer truthfully, as he will be compelled to, it will become immediately evident that significant failures have occurred.
Thankyou in anticipation of your consideration, and a determination to ensure CASA achieves its stated functions.
Respectfully
Glen Buckley