Which is certainly strange because rumour was, that even after reading the ASRR report (& possibly PPRuNe) etc..etc., that this gentleman was very much relishing the opportunity to clean out the FF trough & dismantle the iron ring; I think there is a little more to this sudden withdrawal by said preferred candidate...
My guess would be that the last hurdle was an interview with Mr. Mrdak and perhaps a Ministerial advisor at which the FAA person was told:
(a) You are not being appointed to "reform" CASA, you are being appointed to appear to reform CASA in order to silence CASAs critics.
(b) You do not have authority from me to reform anything. You must not make waves or cause the Government or me and my department any trouble at all.
This is the trouble with Americans in management....they actually want to DO SOMETHING..... and we can't have that, can we?