I have seen FOI's ground aircraft over minor defects which had no bearing on the safety or the integrity of the aircraft. Their view is that if their is any defect on the aircraft at all no matter how small or irrelevent you have to endorse the MR and if it cannot be closed off by deferral to DDG, by a LAME, a PUS or approved pilot maintenance then the aircraft is unairworthy. You cannot fly aircraft around with open defects on the MR no matter how irrelevent they are.
Somewhere I mentioned that maybe pilot training was deficient.
As FOIs and AWIs come from the industry (mostly), some have ingrain incorrect ideas about this subject.
Education is the answer.
If CASA is following this thread, they should have detected a lack of understanding on this subject and produce some education material for the industry and for the staff of CASA so we are all singing from the same page.
But getting an consistent interpretation on a subject from CASA can take an eternity. I have questions put in writing to CASA over 5 years old that are still unanswered.
One only had to follow the sad saga about aerial baiting.
We used to have a great forum at AF every three months where we could get strait answers. Sadly these days have passed.