Griffinblack,
Re the Caribou: buy my response or not as you see fit, but projects have been under way for donkey's years to get a replacement, and each time it's come close the money has not been forthcoming due to other requirements seen as more pressing. The last time this happened, they were down to the short short list when it fell off the budget - much time and money had been spent getting to that stage which the RAAF would hardly have wasted if they'd never wanted to replace it at all.
Chinooks: I don't know the full story as to why the 12 SQN machines were mothballed, but I think at least in part it was a reaction to the loss of the rest of the helicopter assets - ie. after all our best efforts and advice, the transfer has gone ahead, so OK, we're not wasting any more time and assets on this.
This happened after the utility helo transfer, so in no way is it an indication of the seriousness with which the RAAF previously approached its battlefield/tac transport duties, as you imply. Previous to that, and as I've discussed above, the Army were getting good service.
Re your point about who accepts the risk in a task: in the scenario I mentioned in the last post (which is not my pretty picture but rather how we were working prior to the helicopter transfer, albeit on exercises rather than real operations), helicopters were used in the ways I mentioned and therefore being placed in risky positions as much as anyone else on the battlefield.
The BALO or DALO as the case may be wasn't going up the chain to ask his boss whether a task was acceptable or not, he was working with the ground commander/s to advise on the sensible use of air assets and come up with a reasonable plan, something that I'm sure would still happen with Army-owned assets, ie infantry boss wants to do something with his helicopters and his air advisors tell him what they think about it.
As the air assets are expensive and hard to replace no matter who owns them, the answer as to what would be an acceptable risk would likely be similar whether it was RAAF or AAAvn helicopter guys doing the talking.