Sarcs what powers do you think the Senators have to do that?
Good question Lookleft and I hear your concerns. As an observer of the last inquiry and several Senate Estimates hearings you do begin to think that the Senate has very little power to affect any meaningful change.
However the amount of ugliness, obfuscation, sub-plots, unanswered questions, bureaucratic spin and subterfusion displayed last Monday didn't go unnoticed by the Senators and we basically ended up with a hearing totally devoid of politics.
The classic example was with Senator Sterle who normally doesn't broker any criticism of the Labor government policies, Ministers or government departments. Sterle started the day pensive but as proceedings progressed his whole demeanour changed and by the end he was there barking out questions and making comments of consternation and incredulity at the performance of the stooges from the bureau and regulator.
The last inquiry didn't delve into the murk like this one has, it did come up with 22 reasonable recommendations but the Minister simply countered that by saying that all the answers were in the Aviation 'White Paper'.
Except for Nick Xenophon the last inquiry was strictly political and was largely governed by which side of the fence a Senator sits. This one has become apolitical and the Senators are very much united and have exposed the ugliness that has always laid within...
That is why I say the Senators are on notice!
The political beast is a weird and sometimes illogical system that very few ever totally understand but sometimes it can be as simple as the 'squeaky wheel gets the grease'. Why do you think there are so many political lobby groups based in 'Cratberra'? I don't reckon it's because the rents cheap!
My two bobs worth LL!