From gaunty's last post above, and Gary I'm not singling you out here, just using some of your words to illustrate a point that while the events that are going-on continue to do so, then in the eyes of the real GA community (ie those employed by it, not merely those who aviate on the odd occaision), the AOPA will continue to languish as a laughing stock of Australian aviation.
The last two episodes of AOPA as a dilletante millionaires playground and others who really do need to get a life, a pathetic "thunder and lightning, huff n puff" email to the AOPA board on Christmas morning for goodness sakes, should be a salutory lesson to the long suffering members.
My italics.
The italics and the bolding sum up my feelings (and I have no doubt many, many others too), about what the actual professional GA industry sees in the Australian AOPA as a stand alone organisation. Sure, you have a number of CPL and ATPL holders as ordinary members, and I believe there is much good to be done (and being done) from the efforts of those focussed in the right direction, but for the most part you are seen as a "weekend PPL pilot rich boys club with too much spare time and too much to say".
From the outside.... Your organisation claims to speak for GA as a whole. This claim is unfounded, wrong and arrogant in its extreme. You do not speak for me, you do not speak for my company, my workmates, and from the feeling that I have been able to ascertain from talking to other people in the industry is that the arrogance of past few years has done you no favours with the very people who work in this industry you would need to be attracting to become members of your organisation.
Yes, I do hear much of what goes on inside your organisation, due to having a good friend (an AOPA member) mentioning the goings-on from time to time. You see, I wanted to see if the grass-roots of the animal would let the head out of its butt which has surely not seen the light of day for a long long time.....
I sat back here last year and watched a person, who is now the target of attack by what would appear from the outside to be brain dead neanderthols, say he would be doing his best to do the job if elected. Well, why didn't you let him instead of playing faction games and vetoing him (and effectively the rest of the board), by tying his hands behind his back? You, the faction I speak of are responsible in no small part for the sad state of affairs that are now transpiring..... Blame your pathetic selves, there is no-one else to.
Remember;
6,000 ex members can't be wrong
What about the people like me and others who have looked into becoming members and have seen the bollocks that goes on, therefore deciding not to join. You never know, you might have picked-up another 6,000-odd and not lost the first 6,000. Whaderya reckon?
Yep, BLAME YOURSELVES! You'll never see my money until you've changed a great deal, and I know I don't just speak for myself.