A few reasons for high aviation fees - whether we use NZ, Oz, the UK or anywhere else to complain about - are:
1. ICAO lay all sorts of compliance requirements on Contracting States. If a State does not comply, it does not get to play in the international aviation arena. Then the States' respective governments lay on extra levels of compliance to fit their own legal framework. Dealing with all this regulatory stuff takes lots of pen pushers (or these days, keyboard tappers). Plus, by its complex nature, specialists are required at every level of aviation to make rules, enforce rules, assess applications, audit operators etc. Specialists in any field cost money.
2. Litigation. The travelling public expect 100% safety in aviation, even though 100% is an impossibility. When it occasionally does go pear-shaped EVERYONE gets sued - operators, manufacturers and regulators alike. Government covering its collective arse as it endeavours to stay out of court and the newspapers, costs. Arse covering requires plenty of input from lawyers, and we know that they don't come cheap. The more people looking at ways to discourage that damn-fool activity called private flying, the safer it will become.
3. A public perception that pilots and aircraft owners are 'fat cats' who should pay their way. In particular, pilots and aircraft owners are a very small segment of society - not many votes there. So screw 'em. Taxpayers and politicians see no good reason to prop up aviation at the bottom end.
Compare with, say, amateur boaters. They are a much larger percentage of the population - the common man fishing from his tinny is certainly not seen as a fat cat; more like someone exercising a right. Hence, the boating vote is more influential.
Maritime regulators extract most of their fees from commercial shipping and allow amateur boaties to enjoy a relatively free ride. e.g. it costs me $80 a year to keep my boat registered in Tasmania, and for that I get free weather on the hour every hour, SAR service, unrestricted use of navigation lights, marks and beacons, and at certain locations temporary use of free moorings. Although I do have to comply with certain safety rules, much of it can be left to trust, because I can only kill a very small number of people in one hit. I have been sailing since I was 12 years old, and have yet to have an inspection from the authorities. They are too busy concentrating on much larger hazards. Compare that with aviation, where we get one form of inspection or another at frequent intervals (medicals, proficiency checks, safety audits, ramp checks - the list is endless).
I am not defending high fees for aviators, just attempting to explain them. Don't shoot the messenger.
Last edited by Mach E Avelli; 9th Sep 2013 at 01:46.