question to the Ombudsman
Dear Mark of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Office.
Thankyou for providing me your finalised response regarding my complaint regarding CASA. I apologise for the delay in responding as I have been involved in a house move. As you are aware the CASA action has left me destitute and bankrupt, as I have personally lost many millions of dollars, and as you are aware several other businesses were forced into closure. The financial and human toll that this has taken on the wellbeing of my family, and me is totally unwarranted and unneccesssary.The impact has been significant to say the least.
I feel compelled to have a response on record, and I am in the process of preparing that response.
In order to assist me in finalising the response, may I put one important question to you.
There is no doubt that since the introduction of Civil Aviation legislation in 1938, multiple flight training organisations operating under a single authorisation was fully sanctioned and approved by CASA. There is no doubt that this is the truth. This can simply be evidenced, by the Latrobe Valley Aero Club operating under the AOC of a Charter Company in Bairnsdale, up until the day they joined APTA.
When Latrobe Valley transferred from its previous operator to APTA, CASA declared APTAs operation illegal, placed trading restrictions on the business for 8 months that prevented it taking on new customers. CASA also wrote to existing customers advising them of that fact that they were operating illegally and subject to regulatory action.
Can I request an explanation as to why no consideration was made regarding this fact i.e. CASA allowed other Operators to do this but determined that I was operating unlawfully.
It would appear to me that this would be the starting point of any investigation, although you chose not to address this critical factor.
If I could request an explanation as to why no comparative analysis was made, I would be highly appreciative.
Yours thankfully,
Glen Buckley