Aussie Andy- are you winding people up, or are you really that stupid?
I'll bite a little bit.
4711 is pointing out the conflict of interest as per your definition.
Mr Smith has a private interest. It's getting the airspace model that best suits HIM, to be applied in Australia. He has had several goes at it in the past, so this personal interest probably extends to his pride, settling old scores, saying "I told you so" etc.
His public responsibility lay in choosing the best airspace model for ALL AUSTRALIANS whilst on the panel. 4711 is rightly raising the conflict where the proponent of a particular model is sitting on the panel choosing the final model. Am I typing slowly enough?
In other words, did the panel really look at the options and choose, or was it a kangaroo court?
Do you need people on the panel who have no expertise? Maybe. Do you need people who are impartial? Definately.