Despite Ben's efforts, the safety angle doesn't seem to be getting much traction.
Perhaps the mismanagement at Airservices might be put under the spotlight if money is mentioned? The deliberate under-staffing benefits managers and the "profit" returned to the govt, but at what cost? If somebody ran the numbers and pointed out that the cost of, say, 400 more controllers would be less costly than the amount of jet fuel wasted in airspace closures, unnecessary delays, etc. etc. in short "systemic inefficiency" driven by short-sighted, bonus-driven management goals, would they change?
The cost to the country in terms of lost productivity (think- FIFO miners sitting on the ground for longer than their flight, hoards of businesspeople experiencing delays as they hold, or detour around flow-constricted volumes etc. etc.) must be staggering. If someone put the sword to the fallacy that less controllers= national benefit, things might change.
The "silo thinking" that drives this wasteful cost shifting is old. Is good governance just beyond us anymore?