Wow - what a wakeup message this is.
I didn't think that the new generation had such bad feelings about the "about to hand over" generation.
In NSW, where I had personal knowledge, the couple of past presidents were Gary Ticehurst (Ch 2) and Dan Tyler (Careflight). Apart from gary's film interests, there were no commercial barrows to be pushed, and no reason to try to hold back or discourage new starters. Dan in particular, being one of the founding fathers of the HAA, was always saddened to hear of the conflicts of the VIC branch, and there was considerable blood-letting down there. At one stage that branch had the most members, numbering several hundred. Now there is lucky to be 20, and one of the most dedicated is a man who was kicked in the teeth by several of the executive and almost drummed out of town.
But now he is one of the only voices trying to shout out that we should look again at the HAA. He is trying to show the way ahead for a group, not the way that one high-profile individual is going which will almost certainly kill all hopes for public acceptance of heliports in suburban areas.
I can't apologise for the way you have been treated by past barrow-pushers. But don't give up on the HAA. It will only be by YOUR efforts that these others get voted out. There has to be an opposition to force a vote. If nobody stands up against someone they don't like, then that person will stay there for ever.
