Lodown - you make very good points but I disagree with just one:
Whether or not they have aviation experience is immaterial in my mind.
Most boards serve just as rubber stamps because the members know that to speak out and disturb the "club like" atmosphere would endanger their future appointments to other boards and quangos.
If you have an experienced pilot or someone with significant industry aviation industry experience world-wide, he/she (if they have the fortitude and character strength) can represent the views of the industry because they are experiencing first hand the effects of bad decisions. This is of course not to say that he/she would not be a rubber stamp.
Most company boards of directors are consistently dysfunctional and unable to rein in even the most egregious behavior by CEOs simply because of the club atmosphere they enjoy. You can see it with Telstra and Sol, AMP with Trumbull, James Hardie, Coca Cola, Qantas, and so on. These are not insignificant companies. What chance then would these lawyers and professional board directors do good for CASA and the industry without some form of aviation background?
My thoughts for a solution are to abolish pays to these board members. Put in a compensation package that incentivises them to increase GA activity, safety, efficiency and so on. Otherwise, you will have these board members paid to do irrational things, rubber stamp stupidity and serve as protection fodder to the government of the day.
Yes Minister?