Parliament seems to be back in business now the election writs are in (bar one in dispute Mr 'Balance of Power' Clive). Supplementary Estimates are now listed for 18 & 19 November and surprise..surprise AQONs are finally posted (
DoIT AQONs Senate Estimates). Hmm..
and there is some answers of interest to the many subjects covered in this thread and the locked thread. Here is a small sampling...QON1:
Question no.: 01
Program: n/a
Division/Agency: (CORP) Corporate Services
Topic: Government response to the Committee's Accident Aviation Report
Proof Hansard Page/s: 5 (29/05/2013)
Senator Macdonald asked:
Senator IAN MACDONALD: Thank you for that. Senator Thistlethwaite, as the minister representing the minister, can you give any indication of what timing the minister might adopt in relation to this important report and the government's response to it?
Senator Thistlethwaite: I cannot give you an indication now, Senator, but I can take that on notice and see if we can come back to you before the end of the day.
Senator IAN MACDONALD: That would be great, thank you.
Answer:
The Government will release a response to the Air Accidents Investigations inquiry as soon as practicable.
Well no surprises there I guess??
The utter disdain, obfuscation and contempt displayed by Albo in regards to aviation appears to have been consistent right up to the last minute of his responsibility; QON2:
Senator IAN MACDONALD: Can you tell us when the answers were submitted by you to the minister's office?
Mr Mrdak: There were 132 questions in total, 40 taken on notice on the hearing day and 92 written questions. The department did not this time meet our requirements to get the advice to the minister as we would have liked. The first 100 draft responses were provided to the minister on 28 March. The further 32 outstanding responses were provided on 8 and 18 April, owing to some delays in getting data from us. But the minister had all of the consolidated answers by 18 April.
Senator IAN MACDONALD: Senator Thistlethwaite, do you have any indication of why it took the minister from 18 April until last Friday to deal with those things?
Senator Thistlethwaite: No, I do not, Senator. Again, I can seek to take that on notice and provide you with an answer.
Senator IAN MACDONALD: It would be good if you could.
Senator NASH: Can I suggest that perhaps the good senator might like to do that over the next two days for us? I am sure he is able to call the minister's office and come back to us before the end of tomorrow.
Senator Thistlethwaite: I already indicated that I would.
Answer: The then Minister advised that he had nothing further to add to this response.
And here is an answer for Senator Fawcett's question on the you beaut (in house) FF Sentinel Surveillance software that rumour has it now has some serious functionality issues
:
Senator FAWCETT: Can you tell me the final overall cost of the system as of this budget?
Mr McCormick: For the CASA IT tool Sky Sentinel business and technical implementation, development implementation and the new CASA surveillance manuals from March 2011 to June 2013, the total cost was $2,419,157, but we do not have the breakdown of the Sky Sentinel out of that at this stage.
Senator FAWCETT: Can you come back to the committee today, if you can, or tomorrow with that figure? I would be interested to know how much that was.
Mr McCormick: Certainly.
Answer: The original software/IP was purchased for $35,750 (GST inclusive) knowing additional work would be required in regard to the subsequent development into a functioning system and deployment throughout CASA. The total development costs of the system (including the purchase of the software and IP) was $1,027,848.
As advised at the hearing on 29 May 2013, the total overall cost was $2,447,184 which as well as the above, includes associated costs such as preparation of a user manual, training of staff and managers involved in surveillance and business implementation.
For many more examples from the FF masters of spin and smoke'n' mirrors here's the link:
CAsA AQONs 