Wizofoz, no, I have never said:
that the burden of cost for air safety should be almost entirely borne by airlines.
In fact, it is completely the opposite. As I explained, I introduced the mandatory transponder requirements for VFR aircraft in Class E. This is not a requirement (as far as I know) anywhere else in the world. This clearly means that wherever we upgrade to Class E airspace, we also ensure that all aircraft are transponder equipped. This is logical.
However in Australia we have 10 to 30 passenger airline aircraft without TCAS. This means that in a non-radar environment (which many of our airports are) the advantage of the costly transponder (which VFR owners have agreed to install) is completely negated.
If you constantly come back and say that there must be a one-way ratchet which increases costs to VFR aircraft owners, but airline owners should not even have to comply with existing accepted world standards, this is ridiculous.
In relation to factual information about TCAS improving safety, you simply need common sense. At the present time, most aircraft that mix with 10 to 30 passenger aircraft in the circuit area are equipped with transponders. Therefore it is logical that safety will be improved if the RPT aircraft are TCAS equipped. You can do 10 years of study if you want to, but even if one conflict is resolved because the airline aircraft has TCAS, it is better than not having TCAS in the first place.