A response...one you may not like.
I do not stand on one side of this fence...or the other. I certainly see many failures in training, pilot labour groups, Air Traffic, governmental oversight of maintenance, flight times and duty rest requirements, educational standards of flight crews, placement of instrument approaches, and a lot of other things right here...right now in North America.
I am an Australian born in Hornsby, and raised in Australia. I know that some of Dick's proposals won't work in Australia. Why? Because I flew to ATPL standards in the Australian IFR system prior to any of these new changes. I also refueled out of drums stored in the desert, where there was no radar, no weather reporting and hardly any friggin' navaids, (before GPS) and did it all as a VFR commercial pilot with no instrument rating with WAC charts that were last fully surveyed in the the 1960's.
Chief Galah...yep! You're right! Without improved placement of radar, there might be delays in departing non-radar covered airports, no good, I agree. We either modify the existing system to improve upon it, or we place a radar near the top of Middle Brother Mountain that can serve Taree, Kempsey, Port Macquarie and even a few private strips as well. The cost...well, we have to measure that.
Icarus 2001, you stand in steadfast support of Voices of Reason, you may have your reasons. I personally would like to know more about VOR before I make anymore comparisons. I have looked at their numbers, perhaps they're close, maybe not.
Again, I am not friends with Dick Smith or any of you! I am an Australian who believes we need to cast aside the flagrant abuses of a system that is obviously not being administered properly and find a system and people who can run it properly.
I am personally very suspicious of 4711. He seems to know WAY too much to be a casual observer here!
Do you know that you have people working your airspace that are making money from the coffers of people struggling in general aviation who are having to pay excessive air service charges! This is nothing short of extortion. Is 4711, charged with the very administration of the sharing of these spoils?
Tell me why you can't have active flight following in radar coverage in Australia as you transit Capital City Airports? Is it because the collection of these fees would be more difficult if this were actively encouraged?
Don't tell me it's about workload- HOGWASH! Australia has one of the lowest air densities of airspace in the world.
We need to cut through this crap and do it now!
I have a multi-million dollar carrer as a pilot here in the United States, but out of a spirit of Australian patriotism, I would give it up if it meant that I could clean this mess up before we have bodies falling from the sky on fire over any of the Australian landscape.
I will not waste my time with any of it, if these efforts would be hijacked by corrupted government officials.