Maths
27.9 is not 2/3 of 79.4.
According to the report, he had done 28.6 hours dual with RAA, 22.9 solo.
When he received his pilot certificate (roughly equivalent to GFPT) he had done 16.5 Dual and 4.4 solo with RAA.
At a GA school, if someone came in with 25-30 hours including 5 solo 25 years ago, how many hours would you expect it to take to achieve GFPT?
16 hours dual doesn't sound out of the ballpark - especially at a regional airfield, rather than e.g. Moorabbin.