Jim Irwin, in relation to Mike Taylor you say:
He is a very powerful man, and has the ATSB under his control.
If that is so, we want to know everything about the man – his experience, his training and his ability in relation to a visionary policy for aviation. He should be invited to (and appearing at) meetings of the industry, the unions, and everyone else who is affected by the aviation regulatory system.
My experience of the Department under Mike Taylor is one of complete resistance to change. That is, not really taking any notice of anyone other than the major airlines. For example, the ASIC card mentioned above has been a giant misallocation of resources. There is no equivalent in the US, and after all, that country is the home of September 11.
It was introduced here by a Department which obviously has no understanding of how such costs will further damage an industry. From what I can make out, every member of that Department has no interest in general aviation flying – they don’t fly, they don’t pay for an ASIC card or anything similar, and there is almost the philosophy that we saw in the
Yes, Minister episode on the hospital that had no patients. That is, if you basically have a nil or very small GA industry, there are fewer problems. This is outrageously disloyal to Australia, however the bureaucrats in the Department seem to get away with it.
ACMS, I have no problems with people posting under a pseudonym if they need to do it. However if they do it to defame people with inaccurate statements it is quite different. For example, you state:
I can't get the degrading image of you wearing a Qantas Captains uniform greeting Price Charles out of my head.
I’ve checked the photo in my
Solo Around the World book. It shows clearly that when I landed at Balmoral Castle (the only place where I met Prince Charles) I was wearing my Multifabs survival suit with a T-shirt underneath, as I’d just flown over the Atlantic Ocean. I wore that suit all that day until I arrived in London. A Multifabs survival suit is not a “Qantas Captain’s uniform.”
Kreugers, you state:
No one seems to understand or want to confront the fact that industry specific knowledge, skills and experience are vital when developing programs and legislation that affect the real world.
You are 100% correct. To have a bureaucrat from the Department of Agriculture in effect now responsible for aviation is a catastrophe in my view. No doubt Mike Taylor is a brilliant bureaucrat. However as stated above, he is immensely powerful, and history shows that there will be no meaningful reform.
My suggestion is that you look through the records and see if there has been one visionary statement in relation to the future of Australian aviation from Mike Taylor. I believe you will find nothing.
If the situation remains the same for the next five years, it wouldn’t matter if there were ten CASA Boards – they would be able to do nothing. When I was the Chairman of CASA, the Department ruled supreme, and simply stopped any reform that we wanted to do. The Department obviously has its direct contacts with the powerful – i.e. Qantas and the other major airlines – and constantly advises the Minister on what will keep him out of the media in their view.
During my involvement in aviation in Australia, I have never heard one bureaucrat (from the Secretary down) ever ask anyone about their views in relation to the general aviation industry in Australia, and how we could reverse the decline.
By the way, there is nothing in the PPRuNe rules which stops people from posting under their own name. As I have constantly said, if you want to have influence, use your own name – then there is a greater chance that people will listen.
James Michael, you state:
I remain curious at Dick's spotlight on Taylor when there are so many issues in aviation that direct intervention or lobbying might assist.
James, all the direct intervention and lobbying will be futile under the present system, where the Department operates supreme, and can (and does) stop any change which they do not support. Presumably they do a phone around to Qantas and a few of the other airlines, and then the decision is made behind the scenes.