mjbow2,
Perhaps the most important thing here is that the senior management of "The Department" understands and supports US NAS.
I believe John McCormick's support is twofold, firstly he understand the US system, and the fact that the whole basis of ICAO CNS/ATM is the US NAS, and secondly, his experience of the FAA versus "the Australian Way" ---- something that is painfully obvious to any non-Australian based pilot, every time they "hit" Australian airspace.
If your only experience is the "Australian Way", you can have no comprehension of how well the US system works. Indeed, far to many "Australian" pilots exhibit great unease with the freedoms of the US system, until they actually experience it, and, I am please to say, the adaption is immediate (with the exception of several union die-hards from one particular Regional)
Professor Hall is correct, but don't forget ALARP is not the same as "As Low As Possible", the nonsense that is/was built into the Airservices Safety Management System.
That resulted in the claim (risk analysis of C v. E between 10,000 and 20/25,000', en-route) that one statistical zero was lower than another statistical zero, and therefor the lower zero was more zero than the higher zero, and therefor a safer zero. Zero in on that one!!
Tootle pip!!