McCormack aside, my reading of the so-called Issues paper is the "Department" re-telling that time-honoured porky about everything in Australian aviation being rosy.
They devote endless pages to telling us how wonderful everything is with just a few bits thrown asking us to tinker around the edges.
Frankly I do not know whether Governments of both persuations think that aviation is just fine, but I do know that you will not get reform from a politcal party that misleadingly calls itself Liberal when it is in fact Conservative.
The vote by Labor on Angel Flight engine servicing also indicates that they are not about to reform aviation either.
Apart from a thorough distaste for CASA it is also difficult to know what correspondents on Prune want changed, I suspect that getting agreement would be like the famous herding of cats!
For my part I dislike the amount of Government control of the industry. This is manifested through the Federal Departments of DIRD and Defence, and DIRD's controlling agencies, CASA, Airservices and ATSB, coupled with the State Governments' control of airports and their subsidisation of air routes.
All together this heavy-handed bureacratic oversight results in a lack of competion, a lack of freedom of navigation, no reward for entrepreneurialship and a level of safety that is chronically dependent on rules.
To give example of all of these things would result ina PHD length paper, the writing of which would be a total waste of anyone's time. You might get a clap on the back and a fancy piece of paper but no-one would take any notice.
"They" are quite happy with the way things are, remember they care only if it involves politician, gets in the papers or affects Sydney airport.
We mourn the death of four police officers on a Melbourne highway (i do too but theirs' is a high risk job), but no-one cares about the death of four pilots going about their business in what should be a low risk job.
Sorry about that rant, as Aunty Pru is prone to say, back to the lathe (wish I had one)