Creampuff
I agree with your comments about the AAAA submission. It's very perceptive and accurate.
However, I'm not sure about your comment that:
"The fundamental constraint that ‘outsiders’ overlook is that the CASA Board can’t make or unmake decisions to e.g. refuse, suspend or revoke an AOC. The CASA Board can’t direct a delegate to make or not make a regulatory decision."
I think it's true that the Board can't direct delegates how to exercise their delegated powers. But I think that the Board can probably issue, suspend, revoke AOCs etc. This is because such regulatory powers (and most powers) are given to "CASA".
Subsection 53(3) of the Civil Aviation Act unambiguously states that -
"(3) All acts and things done in the name of, or on behalf of, CASA by the Board are taken to have been done by CASA."
So if the Board issued an AOC (or refused to issue or revoked an AOC) in the name of, or on behalf of CASA, then that would be a lawful exercise of CASA's power. However, no doubt the Board would not want to actually exercise any regulatory powers for fear of getting it wrong and being accountable.
This is the same sort of power that the Director uses under s 73(2) of the Act which says that:
"(2) All acts and things done in the name of, or on behalf of, CASA by the Director are taken to have been done by CASA."
What do you make of subsection 53(3)?