Canberra is no different to other GA airports in general I don't think. There's no
true demand for CPL training at your everyday flying school anymore since the appearance of the cadetships some years back. That removed all the airline pilots from the GA spectrum. The cadetship schools are huge and have swallowed pretty much all the flying intsructors out there. Simple case of several very big schools rather than 100 small ones.
So now all that's really left at most airports and schools are the recreational pilots and some CPL guys whose ambition in life is to be an instructor or charter pilot.
GA is still very much alive and well in Canberra. It just looks different to what it might have looked like 20 years ago.
It's funny how many people I seem to meet who live in or around Canberra and preach "GA is dead in Canberra". All too often they're also not a member of the Aero Club. If you're from Canberra and feel like there's nothing happening then join the Aero Club. They'll keep you up-to-date with the social scene and fly-aways etc.
Lookleft - you don't have to travel to Goulburn!
Talk about being priced off the airfield - the only reason Canberra Aviation exists is they were up for landing fees alone of $16,000 at Goulburn Airport! They moved most of the training to Canberra where it's costing $4000 all up which includes parking and access to toilets!