The perfidious nature of the mythical Australian air safety brag will, one day, be savagely exposed; by burnt bodies, smoking metal, shattered families and ruined lives if this dark comedy is allowed to continue.
The people in the front line already know this to be the case. The unforecast fog at Mildura, the circus that is RPT ops into CTAFs and the diminution of flying skills and experience coming through the system.
If the report has been presented to government and not released in a fanfare of "safety on our time" then it does represent a dilemma for the government. The reason the Opposition wouldn't be too keen on exposing it is they are just as culpable.
The big concern would be that a peer review by an overseas agency, that is critical of the national equivalent, cannot be fobbed off as mere sour grapes. International humiliation is a lot harder to cover up than domestic criticism. Now an FAA audit might not be so favourable and if a downgrade was to occur then there might be some movement on getting rid of the deadwood in CASA.