The federal Coalition plans to bring in a prominent member of the international aviation community to conduct an external review of aviation safety and regulations similar to the Wheeler inquiry into aviation security.
It will announce the move today as part of its aviation policy that foreshadows a potential restructure of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and a strengthening of the CASA board by increasing the number of members from four to six.
It is also promising a formal aviation industry consultative council that would meet regularly with the transport minister to address matters of concern to the wider industry, and an industry complaints commissioner to investigate grievances about the regulator or its operatives "in a reasonable time".
The external safety and regulation review comes after recent adverse findings by the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee and after industry feedback that safety regulations were being inappropriately applied and were too bureaucratic.
"We've had such feedback from the industry about the regulatory process and the operations of CASA, it simply has to be addressed," opposition transport spokesman Warren Truss told The Australian.
"We've also got the inevitable and ongoing differences of opinion in the sector about how everything should be done and I thought the Wheeler Review was actually a very useful exercise in dealing with aviation security.
"Not all the recommendations were perfect, but it acted as a circuit breaker and his report has effectively underpinned all that we've done on aviation security since."
Mr Truss said he thought it highly unlikely there would be a consensus on the best way to proceed with the regulatory system.
"I'm hopeful that we will be able to get a decisive breakthrough as we did with Wheeler," he said, noting the opposition did not have a particular candidate in mind but that it would be someone whose views and work would be respected.
He said a Coalition government would not proceed with changes until the review was completed. He said he would like to have it completed so that key decisions could be made by March, when current CASA boss John McCormick's current term expired.
"There are some things I can do immediately without asking for an outside expert. It's just self-evident," Mr Truss said. "For instance, it's silly to have a board that the CEO is not answerable to, and things like that. But it's better to do it all in one go when a new person is appointed or there is a renewal of a term."
Mr Truss conceded that aviation had been an area "where angels dared to tread", but there was concern about the system wherever he went, particularly among licensed aircraft maintenance engineers.
"The big airlines, they can cope with this, because they've got the people and the systems, but the poor one-man operator or just two or three people at a country airfield, this paper war is something they can't very easily cope with," Mr Truss said.
The policy calls for a firm strategic direction for CASA with renewed focus on meaningful industry consultation, an emphasis on consistency in interpreting the rules and a more timely and streamlined review process.
My bold - From the "Australian".......