Piss poor work on both sides in certain areas, I would say. The question from Sen. Patrick about the capabilities of rescue helicopters was so vague as to be ridiculous, and the answer from Monahan was equally vague - they were talking about something they both clearly had little grasp of, so it was farcical. Patrick quoted the Bell 412 as a single engine machine - wrong in any case, and then waffled on without actually asking anything specific. His question boiled down to 'was there stuff some rescue helicopter or other could do before that it couldn't do now, or the other way round?' and Monahan came back with a similarly convoluted waffle. This is bull****. If neither the politicians nor CASA can get a list of questions and answers prepared in advance, or have a whole raft of so-called 'experts' from both sides who can actually pin issues down, then there's absolutely no point to having a hearing.
CASA can only be got at effectively by picking specific issues one by one, following them tenaciously until the buck is either shown to stop or be swept under the carpet, and by who. After a while a clear picture of who are the absolute rotten apples will emerge. This vague waffly crap with no end in sight can and should be approached with far more tenacity and specificity by the politicians, and Pip Spence must follow these issues up in the same way, and others proactively.
Grandstanding, shows of anger, vague references to cases like those shown here just waste time and money. If Senator McDonald actually wants to get to the bottom of real problems, she needs to make a clear plan, get staff on to particular matters and follow leads to their conclusions. I hope she does.